Empathy
by scarface101
Summary: Wrongly accused of a crime and thrown away into one of the worst prison's imaginable. Naruto shall have to rise above the odds... and along the way, discover that good and evil, can be blurry concepts. Naruto x Large Harem. Gray Naruto. Multi-xover of Justice League and Young Justice with some Arkhamverse elements.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Another update, another new posting. I know. I am terrible at consistently updating fics. But at least I haven't quit writing entirely. Hope you enjoy this new opening chapter.**

 **Warning: Lime in chapter.**

 **'The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy, we can all sense a mysterious connection to each other.' (Meryl Streep)**

 **Chapter one: Prologue.**

It was a cold and rainy night in Gotham city, which was actually quite common in the crime-riddled city. A large bus drove down the road and passed through some creaking mettalic gates with the words 'Arkham Asylum' above, which was ominously illuminated by a flash of lightning. The bus' brakes squealed to a halt as some security guards and orderlies came out in raincoats to escort the new arrivals inside.

What could be considered a 'normal' transfer, was quite rare since it was Batman who frequently brought in the patients and inmates. One by one, the new arrivals stepped off the bus, their cuffs and chains clinking in the rain and against the ground with each step. After confirming their names and identities, a guard and orderly escorted their charge inside to be processed into the appropriate cell holding.

Finally, the last arrival stepped forward as a doctor named Penelope Young looked at her clipboard with one had while holding an umbrella with the other. "Naruto Uzumaki, age Fourteen. Born October tenth. Seems you're in here for murder. At your age? That's worriesom indeed. Don't worry, we'll get you the help you need. Recommended housing... Maximum security wing? A boy this age? Seems fishy." She muttered as her attention seemed split between the blonde boy and the papers on the clipboard. Sighing, she merely gestured for him to step forward.

The whiskered teen then followed her inside with a guard close behind him. This guard however seemed to have a prosthetic hook hand and a stern expression on his face, although Naruto could tell that the man was simply doing his job. So long as he didn't make trouble, the guard wouldn't bother him. Plain and simple.

The walk down the hallways was uneventful, the boy received the odd looks as expected of someone his age being incarcerated in an insane asylum. Although the female doctor seemed particulary distracted by his file, still puzzling over why he was meant for Maximum security, sure he killed somebody but he wasn't a serial killer like Zsazs or the Scarecrow.

Finally she turned to the boy and asked him point-blank "So why did you do it? Why kill your godfather?" She asked him, hoping to get to the bottom of his character and what drove him to be a killer.

"Was he ever really my godfather? And for the record... it was self-defense. He tried to chuck me off a cliff." He responded in an even tone, making it hard to tell if he was lying. According to his file, during his trial that was his sole defense. He claimed to have killed some man called 'Jiraiya' in self-defense when he was almost thrown off a cliff.

"Yes. That claim is here in your file, and it says you got bounced around a lot at home before you were sent here. Hopefully we can get all this cleared up. I'm sure this was all some big mistake. I... don't really think you're a murderer. Trust me... I have stared down pure evil here." She responded, in a genuinely sympathetic tone.

"Same here. Kid doesn't look that bad. Here's two pieces of advice from a prison guard. First, never cry in jail. Ever. It'll be like bleeding in the ocean and attracting sharks. Second, don't make any friends for the first few weeks or so. Get a reading on who you feel may be the least threatening to you before you start making any buddies." The guard spoke in a professional tone, although some sympathy could be seen in his eyes. His badge carrying the name 'Cash' on it.

"Appreciate it. I'll definitely remember that." The blonde promised in a grateful tone of voice, some small piece of him hoping that his friends back home would be able to get him out of this hell-hole. They were stopped when a new guard showed up, a scar across his eyes and a whiskey flask at his side. The stench of alcohol fresh on his breath.

"New orders from the Warden. The kid goes to the Special Security Ward where all the other freaks are." The guard spoke, his name badge reading as 'Boles'. His words making a look of concern appear on Cash's face and a look of horror on Dr. Young's.

"The Special Ward?! That's where Batman's gallery of Super criminals and other meta-humans are kept. If he's sent there... I don't think he'll last the week." Dr. Young spoke angrily, worried for the safety of her newest patient who was nothing more than a child.

Cash being a family man felt a much greater amount of sympathy for Naruto than any other inmate he had come across due to him still being a child and now it seemed the world had something against the boy, crossed his arms and glared darkly at Boles speaking in a clearly disdainful tone "The kid will be lucky if he lasts three whole days. You really want to stick him in there with the likes of Croc, Killer Frost, Dollface and all the other psychos?"

"Hey. I got orders straight from the Warden. Like it or not, that's where he is going. Don't like it? You're talking to the wrong guy. Take it up with old man Sharp." Boles replied in a disinterested tone, clearly unmoved by their concern or by what fate may befall the new inmate.

"Fine then, Mr. Cash... keep an eye on our new patient as long as you can." Dr. Young requested before breaking off into jog towards the direction of the Warden's office. With a still angry expression that never wavered from Boles' direction the two guards escorted the blonde towards his new home.

"Here's another piece of advice kid. Stay away from certain inmates in the Special ward. Most notably, The Joker, Victor Zsazs, Killer Croc, Dollface and... you know what? Just stay the hell away from EVERYBODY." Cash spoke with a warning. At long last, the blonde was deposited inside an empty cell that seemed to have been cleaned almost immaculately.

"Just try to make it through tomorrow. Me and the doc will get you out of this. Just sit tight. I have seen lot's of sick puppies come and go around here. You don't deserve this." Cash promised before departing with the other guard, the two soon argued which could be heard down the hall. Naruto could only sigh and climb up to the top cot, deep down... he wanted to scream and cry about how unfair his whole life was. But he wouldn't show any weakness, not yet at least. He would somehow survive this and get his revenge on the ones who tossed him into this nuthouse.

 **The Next morning.**

Naruto awoke with a yawn as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, a loud buzzing noise echoing throughout the cell block that signaled it was morning. "Sleep well, Chamaco?" spoke a deep voice with an accent causing the boy to look up and see that he was sharing a cell with a hulking behomoth of a man wearing some kind of a mask that reminded him of wrestlers... what were they called again? Wait... Luchadors was the term.

"I slept I guess. Didn't know I was sharing a cell." The boy responded feeling a little small in this man's presence, since it seemed like he could be crushed inside those huge beefy arms like a toothpick.

"Neither did I, nino. And lo and behold! Here you are. I am called Bane. What is it they call you?" The now introduced Bane spoke in a surpisingly jovial voice despite his enormous stature.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." The whiskered teen replied bluntly as he hopped off his cot, thanking his lucky stars he didn't pick the bottom bunk, picturing the masked man crushing him beneath.

"Japanese then? Maelstrom, no? I like it. A name of strength." Bane responded with a chuckle as he stepped outside of the cell and gestured for the boy to join him. Not seeing any other option, Naruto followed him since he didn't sense any ill intentions from this guy.

"Thanks. Most people crack the 'fishcake' joke on me. By the way, I was told not to get chummy with anyone here for the first few weeks." The blonde stated with a small frown at the end of that last sentence, still unsure if it was a good idea to put his trust into this 'Bane' character.

"Good advice. I know a good way to judge a person to see if they're trustworthy. Do you know how to play chess nino?" The masked man asked as he walked down the hallway with the blonde following him since Bane knew his way around the joint while Naruto did not.

"A friend taught me how to play Shogi back home." the blonde responded, remembering how he and Shikamaru used to play together every now and again... and found it to be rather surprising how a game of Shogi could help you understand a person better.

"Ah, Shogi. Good. If you know how to play Shogi, it won't be hard to play Chess." The giant of a man replied as they entered the rec room where numerous other inmates were off doing their own thing to pass the time. Although for the most part, just about everyone in there seemed to be bored out of their minds... until their attention was caught by the newcomer.

"This is all, how you say? Old hat to us. We all know each other somehow or other, been in and out of asylum countless times. It is rare to see fresh faces here." Bane casually explained as he sat at a nearby table with a chess board, the attached metallic seating creaking slightly under his weight. The whiskered teen then sat across from him as the Luchador began assembling the pieces in their correct places.

"You go first nino. I will take it easy on you since you are first-timer." Bane offered, allowing the boy the make the first move. With a shrug, the blonde picked up a pawn and moved it ahead two spaces.

"What are you in here for nino? You seem too young to be hardened criminal." Bane asked as he too moved a pawn forward, but only by one space.

"Self-defense. Guy tried to throw me off a cliff. Court system screwed me over." The blonde replied in a blunt manner, giving the shortest possible version of his story as he and Bane took turns moving their pawns forward.

"That's all? Then why are you in here with people like us then Chamaco?" Bane asked as he captured one of his opponent's pieces.

Naruto mimicked the diagonal movement of Bane's pawn and captured one for himself and then replied "Beats me. The Warden had me stuck in here. I don't know why, but it seems EVERYONE wants to mess with my life."

"I doubt that nino. No one receives special treatment. Life is unfair, no?" Bane spoke with a hearty chuckle as he moved a Bishop... but he stopped midway when he saw a flash of genuine anger on the whiskered teen's face.

"You think I don't know that? I never got to experience what it was like to have a family, about eighty percent of my friends are of the female adult variety but they're all too busy with their jobs to spend any real time with me. My education was shit since every last one of my teacher's did everything they could to ignore me or pass me around. And then some perverted old guy tried tossing me off a bottomless cliff, and then after I killed him, I was told he was supposed to be my fucking godfather, who I didn't even know existed! Of course life isn't fair, but when did I ever get a fair chance? And it's all because of the circumstances of my birth that I get treated like this." The blonde ranted rather angrily, before he stopped and realized that he'd gotten the attention of all the other inmates.

A few of them seemed ready to burst out into laughter, until a deep guttural voice stamped out any chance of that "Nobody laugh at the kid. I know exactly how he feels." Spoke another giant, of a more... less than human variety. This creature seemed to be some kind of hybrid between a crocodile and a man due to his sharp teeth, his glowing reptillian eyes, and of course his massive scale covered hide.

"Take it from me kid, I know how it feels not to be given a fair shot. I mean... take a good look at me." The croc Hybrid spoke as he stood to his full height, which almost seemed to dwarf even Bane at this time. The creature's head lightly bumping against the ceiling earning a growl of annoyance.

"Wow... that's actually kinda neat there big guy. Are you a croc that became human, or a human that became a croc?" The boy asked in a completely innocent manner, earning him some odd looks. For a few moments, the reptillian creature's mouth hanged open as he seemed genuinely stumped by that question... until he burst out in a fit of laughter.

"You know kid... you're actually okay. I never thought about that. The names Killer Croc." Croc spoke with with a toothy grin as he extended his hand out to the boy, who reached out and shook it, somehow uncaring that Killer Croc could rip his arm out with one quick jerk.

"Nice to meet you Croc. I am Naruto Uzumaki." The boy responded, feeling a certain kind of kinship to this creature. Call it a connection between outcasts. Meanwhile, Croc was genuinely moved by the boy's innocent nature, not remembering the last time he had been treated with common decency as though he were 'normal'. It actually felt nice. Croc then rose up as much as his height would allow and turned to the other inmates.

"All right ya meatsacks, listen up! I like this here kid. Ya mess with him, I'll kill you and eat you up." Croc announced loudly, with Bane also voicing his approval.

"Si, the boy be under my protection as well. Any of you dare to harm him, I will break you!" Bane yelled and slammed his fist against the wall for emphasis.

"Whoa, whoa. You guys are looking out for me now? You barely even know me." Naruto spoke in genuine surprise, these were supposed to be hardened criminals? It didn't really seem that way right now.

"Don't care. You got heart kid. I can tell." Croc announced as he sat on the floor, glaring at the likes of one Victor Zsazs who seemed like he was contemplating on making a shiv to murder the boy since the scarred killer had a 'Hungry eyes' look.

"Si amigo. Unlike a number of these fools, we are capable of honor! You should not be locked up with the animals. No offense meant to you Senor Croc." The masked man spoke, and sent a small apology towards Croc for the 'animal' comment.

"It's cool." The reptillian hybrid responded in an uncaring manner. Soon it seemed like all the other inmates were staring at the boy like a piece of meat.

"Never cry in prison... I'm guessing that also applies to other emotions too." Naruto responded, now feeling very much unsafe, even with his two newfound bodyguards.

"Si, Chamaco. They all now want a piece of you. It is unsafe for you here." Bane responded in an even tone, his eyes skimming over the other inmates.

"We gotta get ya out of here kid. Or you'll be dead... or wishing you were." Croc spoke in a blunt manner, making the whiskered teen suddenly feel a small chill running up and down his spine.

"Ideas on how to get me out of here? Something tells me that even with you two around, I may not make it through the day. We all know what happens if you drop the soap!" Naruto whispered to his new companions.

"Got one. It's laundry day. Could smuggle you to a low-risk wing." Killer Croc offered since it was the most present oppurtunity. With both Bane and Naruto nodding in agreement at that idea. Best get started right away before somebody did something nasty to the boy.

 **Later.**

"Does this actually work?" Asked Naruto as he hopped into a cart full of washed laundry, while both Bane and Croc dumped a bunch of the prison's jumpsuits down on him to hide him from sight.

"For an adult? No. But I doubt the guard's will be looking for you Chamaco. Besides, this cart is marked for Block C, very low-risk wing. Small-timers really, you'll be much safer there than in here." Bane replied in a reassuring voice. The sounds of footsteps were heard outside, likely belonging to whoever was coming for the pickup.

"Godspeed to you Nino, I hope we meet again soon." Bane spoke as both he and Croc retreated down the hall away from the approaching footsteps. Knowing that it wouldn't be good if they were seen hanging around the prison's laundry.

Two guards walked in, with one of them speaking "Okay, last one of the day. Damn, these carts are so old that the paint's wearing off. Sometimes the darn things get mixed up because of that. Which one was this for again?" the idle chatter made the blonde's eyes widen as he wondered if the cart he was in right now was misread by Bane.

"Block D. Female only block. Sharp's too friggin' stingy to update anything around here. Asshole wants to be some bigshot mayor." spoke another guard as one of them began pushing the cart to it's intended destination.

"Wait... these jumpsuits are for women? How'd they end up in the Special ward?" Asked the first guard out of curiosity as Naruto hoped that the female section was also of the low-risk kind.

"You idiot, you think these things are gender specific? They're meant to be gender neutral since Arkham has a mixed population, it's not hard to get them mixed up sometimes. Although, I hear a few inmates need to get these things custom-made, like Bane or Croc. You seen those guys? They're fucking huge!" The second guard replied while they continued to chatter away with each other. After a few minutes of keeping still, the cart came to a halt.

A female voice then spoke "We'll take it from here boys." And then the cart began moving once again making Naruto realize it must have been handed off to some Female guards. Made sense since his current destination was an all female cell block. After a short ride, the female guard announced the arrival of freshly cleaned jumpsuits.

"Uh oh." Naruto muttered quietly, wondering what would happen if he were discovered. This whole plan had now gone clean out of the window at this point, and he would likely be sent back into the Special ward once again. Finally the cart came to a last stop, and he heard the guard leave the room. Peeking through the pile of jumpsuits he noticed that he was alone and it sounded like no one else was in here. Perhaps he could find another way out of here? He slowly climbed out of the cart and sighed... until he came face to face with a figure who's head resembled a crimson skull.

"AAAAAAAGH! A GHOUL!" The blonde screamed in terror, only to faint on his feet and then fall to the floor. Above him stood a female figure, what was odd about her was the lack of skin covering her body allowing one to see her muscle and flesh.

"Oh dear." She whispered to herself as she looked over the boy... then she grabbed him by his feet and dragged him away into the darkest confines of Arkham Asylum.

 **Later.**

"Wow... what a nightmare. I dreamt that I was in... oh shit." Naruto muttered as he found himself seemingly underground, more specifically in some kind of basement or maybe a boiler room of some kind. He was currently resting on a worn matress that had some blankets and pillows that looked like they had seen much better days.

And then from the shadows came that horrifying visage again, making his jaw drop to the floor and his eyes widen into saucers. She looked down at him for a few long moments before simply uttering a single word "Hello."

"Umm... Hi... sorry that I uhh... screamed like that and called you a Ghoul before. You... erm... kinda scared me." He muttered an apology, trying not to stare at her face... or lack thereof.

"Jane sorry. Jane didn't mean to scare you. Jane is quite scary looking." She replied, repeatedly referring to herself in the third person, making Naruto wonder if that was a mental tick of some kind.

"Jane, is it? Where am I right now?" He asked as he got up from the mattress and strained his eyes to see in the dark since his eyes hadn't fully adjusted, he spotted the shape of a light switch and tried to flick it on... only for Jane to stop him by gently pushing his hand back down.

"No lights. Guards will see. You are beneath Arkham in an old boiler room. Guards rarely pass by here anymore, but can't be too careful. Why did you smuggle yourself into the Female ward?" She asked him as she produced a bottle of water and presented it to the whiskered teen.

"Not by choice. It was all an accident. And I wasn't trying to get into the Female Ward. I was trying to get out of the Special ward." He explained as he twisted off the cap and drank some of the water he was given.

"Special ward? That's a bad place to be. Lot's of bad people in there. Why were you in there? Are you a bad person too?" She asked him, hoping to understand his story a bit better.

"The quickest version is that the Warden stuffed me in there for whatever reason. I met and somehow became fast friends with Bane and Killer Croc who got me out. And... I don't really think I'm a bad person, at least, not bad enough to deserve being in this shithole called an Asylum." He responded with a deep sigh before returning the water bottle to Jane.

"Warden is bad. Greedy. Wants to be Mayor. But hides dark secrets. It makes for good leverage." She spoke, a smile forming on her crimson visage.

"Secrets? What kind of secrets? You trying to hint at something?" He asked her with growing interest, prompting Jane to vanish into the darkness of the boiler room, and then return with a handheld camcorder. She opened it up and began playing some footage, showing an old man beating an inmate to death.

"Warden Sharp kills inmates, every chance he gets. Was saving this for the right oppurtunity. Jane will help you, and you will help Jane in future. Deal little friend?" She asked him with a malicious grin forming.

"Deal. My name is Naruto Uzumaki by the way. One problem... how am I even going to get close to the Warden without being tossed back into the Special ward again?" He asked in concern since his previous escape plan had been botched by some unlucky circumstances.

"Leave that to Jane. Jane Doe knows Arkham very well. Many ways to get around if one knows how." She responded as she retreated into the dark again where the sounds of fabric rustling could be heard.

"Thanks... but why help me at all? The first thing I did when I saw you was scream in terror and faint." He asked her while crossing his arms, finding it extremely odd how he is quickly gaining unexpected allies amongst the inmates.

"Children aren't supposed to be in Arkham. Children are alien here. They don't belong here. It is like throwing a lamb into a den of predators. Jane Doe hopes that by helping little friend, then Jane may feel... happy knowing that Jane can be good person if she tries. Plus, little friend will owe Jane Doe a huge favor. Call it an investment." she answered him and then returned in the uniform of a female guard with a badge, her head now featuring the same face as on the badge itself.

"Whoa... you a shapechanger or something? That why you don't have a face?" He asked out of innocent curiosity as he tilted his head to the side.

"Jane good at taking other's appearance, by force if need be. Jane is a serial killer, seeking an identity where she can be happy. Jane once tried using faces of Doctors and Guards to leave Arkham, but they started living on-site so that Jane couldn't leave. This one she has used for the longest time, no suspicions yet. Very useful. You ready to go little friend?" She asked him and then held out her hand. He took it and nodded, surprised that he had gained an ally in a Serial killer.

But then... he was certain that stranger things had happened before. And if it meant he could make it through the day and continue living, then it was fine by him.

 **Minutes later.**

Quincy Sharp sat in his office drinking some rather expensive scotch, sighing as Dr. Young raised quite a large fuss just yesterday about that little Chinese boy that was sent into the Special ward. After some time spent arguing with the doctor, she stormed off claiming she would be back, with a lawyer if need be to keep the lad safe. The truth was, Sharp was payed a rather generous amount by some overseas associates that requested for the boy to never see daylight again. An easy request since the Special Ward was full of degenerates like Scarecrow, Zsazs, and so on.

A knocking sound was heard at the door prompting him to call out for them to enter, although he hoped it wasn't Doctor Young again. Instead it was a female guard escorting that Chinese boy inside, she saluted and spoke in a professional tone "Found the brat trying to smuggle himself out of the Special ward and into the Female ward, likely trying to escape sir. I'll be outside if you need me." She then clicked her heels, saluted and then disappeared out the door to give them some privacy... and to help Sharp feel at ease so his lips would loosen without a witness around.

"Ah. I see. Nice try my boy, but it isn't that easy to escape from Arkham." Sharp announced as he stepped forward with his cane in hand, glaring down at the teenager.

"Warden Sharp I presume? Nameplate on the door said so. Gotta ask, why'd you stick me inside the Special ward with some of the most dangerous criminals around?" Naruto asked with a frown, wishing to know why the warden did such a thing.

"Some new friends from overseas paid me a rather egregious amount of money to ensure your misery and potential end. The very same people who sent you here in the first place, I imagine. The money was too good to ignore and will be an excellent boost for my mayoral campaign. Not that concerns an uneducated Chinese urchin like you." Sharp boldly declared, obviously believing himself to be superior to the boy.

"Chinese? I am Japanese. Please get it right. And seriously, why is it that political fat-cats in power seem to always have it out for me? What the hell did I ever do to... never mind. More important things need to be taken care of. Gotta ask, what would happen if the Arkham staff found out what you did behind the scenes?" The blonde asked with a knowing smile, causing the warden to pause slightly before resuming his pacing about.

"Whatever do you mean?" He asked, feigning ignorance to the question.

"Well, I made some new friends in here too. And one of them has footage of you murdering inmates when no one else is looking. Anything happens to me, and they'll leave the footage where it can be easily found and viewed by the staff. Just think, you'll be dragged out of your fancy chair, through the mud and into a courtroom, and your entire mayoral campaign if not your life will almost immediately fall apart." The blonde spoke with a victorious smile, knowing he had the warden in a stranglehold, as evidenced by the man sweating profusely and his entire body language changing to that of a fearful and whimpering coward.

"N-no! Anything but that! I'll do anything you ask!" Sharp pleaded, and dropped to his knees to beg, making the blonde boy sneer in disgust at the sight of this pathetic little man.

"I want out of Arkham. I want my freedom. Get me out of this shithole called an Asylum, right now." Naruto demanded, almost growling as he stared down the pompous man.

"Of course! Anything you want! But it will take some time. A few days at least before I can secure your release. There's a process." The Warden tried to explain, fearing for his career and his future attempt at being mayor.

"I don't care. Just get it done. And if that's the case, put me somewhere where I don't have to worry about getting murdered or ass-raped until I'm released. And remember old man, me and my friends are very superstitious, if anything happens to me. Some unlucky accident, a suicide, or anything terrible in general, then my friends will ensure that footage of your crimes shall be seen by everyone. Get the picture?" Naruto asked in a threatening tone, his icy stare making the warden feel as though he were speared through the heart just now.

"Yes! Yes! Nothing shall happen! I swear! But... the only other available cell that may be of some comfort will be in the Female Ward after Jane Doe vanished... again. We still have yet to locate her." The warden explained, making Naruto look over his shoulder to see his disguised accomplice had been listening at the door the entire time. She smiled and gave him a sharp nod of approval.

"Ah what the hell? I'll take it then. If I need anything else from you, I'll be sure to let ya know. Guard!" Naruto called out, prompting the false Guard to come back inside to escort the boy out, she said nothing but gave a look of amusement as she guided him to her cell, leaving behind an almost sobbing Warden Sharp.

 **The Next Day.**

"Huh. Cushy." Naruto mumbled to himself as he got up from his newfound bedding, which proved to be much more comfortable than the cots from the cell he shared with Bane. It made him wonder if the female populace of the Asylum were given some kind of special treatment in hopes of getting sexual favors. He shrugged and then started to stretch out his limbs... until he felt a number of eyes watching him.

Turning to the cell door, he noticed that he'd already gained the attention of several female inmates. One of them with blue hair and pale skin giving off a wolf whistle. "Well hello there, Darling. What brings you in here?" Asked a woman with vibrant red hair and pale green skin as she tapped her cheek with a lone finger.

"Long and short of it? I blackmailed the Warden for a cell outside the Special Security Ward. This one, was the only one open. If you ladies don't mind, I'll just be here for a few days and then I'll be released. Sorry for any inconvenience." He spoke while sheepishly rubbing his head, blushing from some of the stares he was receiving.

"Ohmigawsh! He's sooooo cyuuuuuuute!" Squealed a blonde haired female who hopped inside and started pinching at his cheeks, most specifically the whiskered parts.

"Harley? Down girl. Let the darling breathe." The green skinned woman spoke and then pulled the blonde girl back, releasing Naruto from the torment of cheek pinching.

"But Ivyyyyyy, look at those adorable whisker marks! He looks like a cute widdle fox!" The woman called Harley whined, starting to shed some crocodile tears as she tried reaching for her fellow blonde again.

"Agreed on the adorable part. But his whiskers remind me more of a lost little kitty." Spoke a black-haired female that walked inside with a swagger that reminded the boy of a feline, she then cupped his chin in her hand and let out a low purring sound before stroking one of his trademark whiskers.

"Don't mind Harley. She's quite... exciteable. We don't get many new faces in here, much less of the masculine type. My name is Selina Kyle, expert Cat-burglar and also known as Catwoman. The bubbly blonde is Harley Quinn, and the sultry redhead is Poison Ivy." Selina introduced them before letting go of Naruto's chin and pulling Harley out of his cell to give him some space, much to the ex-Shrink's annoyance.

"And I'm Killer Frost. Nice to meet ya. We all kinda have a bet going on here, wondering what you're in for. Selina thinks you might be a fellow Cat-burglar. Quinn thinks you beat up some Politician's third newphew's son with a pipe or a bat. Ivy thinks you may like to burn stuff. And I think you might be one of those guys who 'knows too much', if you get what I mean. So what's on your rap sheet?" The Bluenette asked him with a smirk, resting her head in her open palm as she leaned against the wall.

"On paper, Murder. But it was actually self-defense. Court system screwed me. And please, my name is Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto summarized in a bored manner, getting a little tired of having to explain why he was even in Arkham.

"Damn. Hey Cheshire! Looks like you win this one!" Frost yelled down the hall, causing a young woman with olive colored skin and bushy black hair to appear.

"Take it from an assassin, I knew he had blood on his hands." The young woman referred to as 'Cheshire' spoke with a somewhat triumphant smile.

"All right then... wait, what did you bet exactly? I'm guessing you don't get a lot of contraband to gamble with around here." Naruto asked with a curious expression while crossing his arms slightly.

"True enough. Which is why you were the prize." Cheshire replied as she grabbed him by the collar and then dragged him out of his cell, leaving behind the other female inmates to groan at their loss.

"Uhh, Cheshire right? You can let go now. I'm not a pet or anything you can just pull around on a leash." The blonde groaned in some dismay, feeling slightly humiliated for being dragged around. He was supposed to be a ninja for crying out loud!

"Would it be so bad to be a pet? You'd get to sleep and eat all day, and get all the affection and love you could possibly want from your Owner." The female assassin quipped with a smile that seemed rather befitting of a Cheshire cat.

"Okay, I'll give you that one. But what are you actually going to do with me?" The whiskered teen asked, looking over his shoulder up at his newest associate.

"Well... I might have a few ideas. The day is young, prison time is slow time, and I have some things I need to confirm." She replied with a small smile, making the boy wonder what she meant by that last line. What was it she needed to confirm?

For now, it may be a good idea to just go along with her. He didn't really sense any malicious intent from her, or any of the females on this block really. Much like when he interacted with Bane, Killer Croc and Jane Doe. It was almost as if he could feel their emotions and felt some kind of a strange connection with each of them. What was happening? Why was it he was making friends and allies inside of a few short days in an asylum, when it took him his entire childhood to make any friends in Konoha?

He was snapped out of his musing when Cheshire opened a set of door, revealing another boiler room, although this one was much hotter than the one that Jane Doe had been using as a hideaway. Guess this boiler room was used much more or was just more active.

"Why are we in here? And seriously, how is it you people can just walk around wherever you like?" The blonde asked in a dead-pan tone, since it was obvious a number of inmates could walk around wherever they wanted without any guard interference.

"In reverse, most of the guards are too lazy and won't bother dealing with us unless there is a fight or an escape attempt. And we are here to train, you are a ninja from the Elemental Nations, am I correct?" She answered him and then unzipped her jumpsuit, letting it pool around her ankles leaving her in only her undergarments.

"Umm, yeah. For some reason, most people don't even know about the Elemental Nations... come to think of it, I don't think I even mentioned being from there. So how did you know? And did you seriously need to strip down?" He asked with a large blush forming on his cheeks from the heat of the active boiler and from seeing a half-naked woman.

"Well, it is much easier to move around without this horrible orange getup. What's wrong? Does it bother you to be in the presence of a female like myself? Do you feel all hot and bothered because of the hormones in your body? And as for how I know... that's my little secret." She replied with a coy smile, almost as if she were amused by his flustered state. Placing her arms behind her head and adopting a sexy pose to further tease him.

Shaking his head and trying to ignore the heat growing in his body, the blonde asked in order to change the subject "So what's the training exactly?"

"Stealth training of course. I am an assassin after all. I'll make things more interesting by making a game of it. A game of tag to be more precise. If you manage to find and tag me once, then I shall be your slave during your time here. But if I win by tagging you three times, then you must be my slave until you leave Arkham. Deal?" She asked him, stalking closer to him, like a predator toying with it's prey before the kill.

"High stakes. And why the handicap? I only have to tag you once to win." He replied while crossing his arms, gulping slightly when her face was but a few inches from his. Some droplets of sweat forming on her skin from the boiler's heat and the stuffy air.

"High stakes indeed, which makes it more fun. And I am a highly trained assassin, you are still young. You must still be a rookie. Even if, on the slight chance that I lose, perhaps we can still gain some mutual enjoyment. Now, unless you want to lose inside a minute, I suggest you discard the jumpsuit. It'll be easier to hide in the dark without it." She replied before drawing back and disappearing within the shadows.

For some reason, this game reminded him of when he and Anko would do some Survival training in the Forest of Death, she would always win of course, but it was still fun. Time to do the Snake Mistress proud. He unzipped his jumpsuit and kicked it off, quickly dashing towards the nearest hiding spot in the dark. He crouched down and listened very carefully for any sounds of movement since it was rather hard to see with what little illumination came from the boiler.

Without any luck finding her, he decided to move on, lest she discover his current hiding place. He barely made it three steps and was then shoved to the ground by Cheshire who vanished as quickly as she appeared. "You breathe and walk a bit too loudly. I could easily slit your throat if you were an enemy." She spoke out, although it sounded like her voice was coming from everywhere making it impossible to pinpoint her new hiding spot.

The blonde thought for a moment, knowing that there was no way he'd be able to find her and win at this rate. It then came to his mind, that in order to win, he would need to play dirty. And he still had one thing she didn't. Sheer numbers. He quickly ran through some hand-signs and whispered **"Shadow Clone Jutsu."**

A large cloud of smoke appeared and in place stood a small crowd of Naruto's all bearing smirks on their faces. As they spread about the boiler room to find their prey. In the darkness, Cheshire smirked at his desire for victory, even if it meant cheating. But then... there were no specific rules in place. She looked up and decided it would be better to take to the high ground and wait out his clones. The real one would soon reveal himself.

"I found her!" Came the shout of a clone that was hidden in a blind-spot she hadn't paid attention to. Cursing her lapse in awareness, she tried to make a dash for it... only to be quickly dog-piled by the clones who pinned her to the ground.

"Seems I'm a bit out of practice." She muttered to herself with a small smirk, guess that's what happens when you get a bit too comfy sitting around in a cell and getting three square meals a day. Another Naruto then appeared in front of her and then touched her on the nose with a large grin.

"Boop. You're tagged. I win." He spoke and then the clones instantly popped out of existence in puffs of smoke. Shaking her head slightly in amusement, she got up and stretched out her limbs a bit.

"All right. I concede defeat. And I'm a woman of my word. What shall your first command be, my master?" She asked with a small bow, her eyes never leaving his face. And it seemed like his cheeks were a deep shade of red, that was visible even in the dark.

"You said something about being an assassin right? I wouldn't put it past the warden to try something against me, so until I'm out of here, help keep me safe and all that, yeah?" The blonde requested earning a nod from the Kunoichi. She then sauntered up to him and pressed her bust to his chest, her face just as red as his own as thick droplets of sweat rolled down her smooth olive skin.

 **Lime starts. (Go to Next bold line, if you want to skip.)**

"Anything... else?" She asked, beginning to pant a bit making her chest heave slightly as she applied more pressure to him, until he was stuck between the stone wall and her hot flesh. "You have a sexy and gorgeous woman as a slave. You sure you don't want to lord it over me? Or take some advantage of the situation?" She asked him as her sweat began to soak through her undergarments a bit, making them stick to her body.

Without another word, the two locked lips. Heatedly making out, with Chesire shoving her tongue into his mouth and entwining it with his own, she then began to grind her body against his, making her bra slip off her chest slightly. Growling in frustration, she ripped it off and flung it away somewhere. Her hand lowering down until it cupped his crotch, feeling a bulge forming in his boxers. "Want me to do something about that?" She asked him with a hungry look in her eyes as they changed into a dull pink color. Almost as though she were in some kind of a trance.

He could only nod in confirmation as his eyes changed into a deep crimson with black-slit pupils. She tore down his boxers and grabbed his cock in her hand, admiring that despite his age he was at an impressive nine inches. She spat on his cock and began rubbing it up and down with her hand to lube it up with her saliva. Her free hand cupping his balls and giving them a firm squeeze making him groan slightly in a mix of pain and pleasure. "Don't worry master. I'll show you a good time." she spoke with a low purr as she sensually kissed his testicles and then brought his cock towards her mouth.

Inch by inch, she slowly swallowed his dick to adjust to his girth. Until at last she completely took him inside her mouth, her hot and wet insides making him shudder as she began bobbing her head back and forth. Some strands of hair sticking to her face as she moaned around his shaft, sending pleasurable vibrations into it. It wasn't long until she felt it start to swell up a bit, signaling he was about to reach his climax.

With a low growl, his semen began to fill up her mouth, making her cheeks puff out as she tried to swallow down his seed as quickly as possible. The blonde then grabbed her head and pulled out, causing leftover semen to spill onto her breasts. Then he growled and bit down hard on her neck, breaking the skin and drawing out blood that filled his mouth. Instead of a cry of pain, a lewd satisfied moan escaped Cheshire's lips. When the whiskered teen pulled back, instead of being a bite mark, there was a tatoo of a fox with nine tails, sitting in the crook of her neck.

 **Lime end.**

"Damn. Is that what it's like to have a slave?" He asked more to himself as he pulled his boxer's back up. Almost wishing that it didn't have to end when he left Arkham. Cheshire rubbed the crook of her neck where he had bitten her and stood up with a slightly dazed look, as if she was coming off of a high.

"You know... there may be a place for you in the organization I represent. The League of Assassins. If you prove yourself worthy, you may become the successor to the Demon's head." She offered with a serene smile, knowing that he had the potential after giving him that small test earlier.

"Sounds interesting. And it might just be up my alley. Think your boss can help get my friends out of here, and help me get some revenge back home?" The blonde asked with a devious grin as his eyes faded back into a sky blue color.

"It could definitely be possible. I suggest you spend your time in here wisely. If you make more 'friends', you could find yourself with an army of powerful beings. Maybe I could help you get more familiar with the female population?" She offered as she rubbed his shoulders a bit, almost as if she craved his touch for some unknown reason. He nodded in agreement, feeling more of a kinship to some of the inmates here in Arkham than most other people. Likely for the same reason he felt a connection to Anko... they were all outcasts in some way or other.

 **Meanwhile.**

"This really him?" Asked a guard as they wheeled a bodybag down the cold halls of Arkham, the tag on the toe reading 'Ra's al Ghul'. The doctor with him merely nodded in confirmation that this was really man himself, who was most likely one of Batman's most dangerous foes. Rumor had it, that Ra's had something called Lazarus pits that could revive him, even after death. Sounded like a load of bull, even by Arkham's standards. They deposited the bodybag into the open storage locker and slid it inside.

Before they could shut the door, the doctor's pager buzzed and he checked it to see what needed to be done next. "Leave him. Dr. Young need me to transfer Bane to the lower levels. Ra's isn't going anywhere." The doctor spoke as he departed to oversee the Venom user's transfer.

"Yeah, I'm needed to help put Killer Croc in the sewers, I heard he nearly killed Zsazs. If you ask me, I would have let him eat Zsazs and then worry about locking him down there afterwards." The guard replied with a sigh. It was gonna be a really busy night.

"No kidding. I hear they prepped a special isolation cell for Poison Ivy to block out her pheromones. Worse, we have an influx of Blackgate inmates coming here, and word has it that the Batman is on his way with the Joker. God... they don't pay me enough to deal with all these animals." The doctor complained with a sigh. Uknown to him... the night had only just begun and was far from over.

 **End chapter one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A long awaited chapter for this fic. I apologize my faithful fans and readers. My muse is a fickle bitch, with a very short attention span. Lack of sleep isn't a big help either, so Apologies in advance for any major mistakes. Feedback and reviews are always appreciated.**

 **Chapter two: Breakout! A new life begins.**

Somewhere in the Elemental Nations, sitting at a bar was a woman with blonde hair and potentially one of the biggest busts a female could possibly have. By reputation, she is known as a failing gambler, a genius medical Ninja, and a woman that could shatter a mountain with the click of her heels.

She sighed and drank some more booze to numb the constant ache in her heart from losing Dan and Nawaki, a pain she had never been able to shake off. "Tsunade-sama? A letter arrived for you." Spoke the form of a black haired woman, her student and apprentice Shizune.

"Is it another letter from the debt collectors? Throw it away. It's always the same thing. 'We will find you' or 'Pay off your debts woman' or 'lemme suck those tits and I'll make your problems go away' or some other shit like that." The busty Sannin muttered in annoyance before downing another glass of alcohol.

"It's not from the collectors. It's… something else." Shizune spoke before handing over the letter to her master. The blonde woman sighed and began to read over the contents, her eyes scanning over the letter… she paused and began to read it over again, as though she were making sure she had read it over correctly and didn't miss anything.

Her face burned a dark crimson due to the influence of the alcohol and pure unfettered rage that boiled inside of her. A bottle of sake exploded in her hand as her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably while a dark and oppressive aura surrounded her, the air itself seemed to weigh down on the patrons, making them feel like they were being crushed or suffocated to death.

She got up from her stool and spoke in a voice filled with anger and hate "Shizune… we are going to Konoha. The old man has a lot of explaining to do."

 **Elsewhere. Arkham asylum.**

In the female cell block, Naruto was back in his cell again, his head resting on the lap of Cheshire who had a sly smile on her face as she stroked his hair, the blonde was enjoying the pampering as he chatted with the other inmates. "Where's Harley and Ivy? I haven't seen them since me and Chesire got back." He asked the forms of Killer Frost and Catwoman, who had taken a fast liking to the boy due to his innocent and friendly nature. It was a rotten shame he was tossed into Arkham of all places.

"Ivy got taken to her isolated cell. The Guards keep a close eye on her due to her pheromone tricks and poisonous kiss. She was just visiting us earlier. As for Harley, no idea where that girl is. Probably skipped off to find her 'Mistah J'." Frost answered with a chuckle, making the Cat burglar roll her eyes since Joker and Harley were the very definition of a 'toxic relationship'. That poor girl needed to find someone that would treat her right, or at the very least with decency.

"Shame. I was hoping to talk more with them. So Frost, you're some kind of heat vampire you said?" The whiskered teen asked, having grown curious about Frost's abilities since she mentioned her ice related powers. Which gave him a small reminder of Haku, the poor soul.

"Yup. I gotta absorb heat to keep on ticking. Best way is to absorb it from people. They keep me in a toasty cell so I can absorb the heat inside so I don't croak." The blue haired woman replied casually, for some reason this kid was giving off a 'different' kind of heat. And for some reason… it was attracting her like a moth. And she was eager to get a taste of him.

"I see… why don't you use your ice powers to break yourself out?" He asked since it would be possible for her to cross the waters separating this Arkham from the city. A small part of him had a strong feeling that Warden Sharp guy wouldn't keep his word, or would try and pull a fast one on him. Guys like that almost always try to weasel out of such things.

"Can't. They put some kind of power dampening collars on Meta types like me. I can't even make a snowflake if I tried. If I try to take it off, I get zapped." Frost replied while pointing at a collar around her neck that made a low humming noise.

The blonde hmmed quietly in response, guessing that the collar was probably being monitored somehow or other. Technology in this part of the world was way more advanced than in the Elemental Nations. Would the collar deactivate if she got far enough away from Arkham? Did it run on a battery? Did it need some kind of key to be taken off, or does it take the push of a button from a control room? His mind reeled with questions since he wanted out of Arkham, he didn't deserve to be in here. He didn't deserve to be stuffed into a prison for killing some old pervert that was going to murder him by chucking him off a cliff.

But then, even if he got out of Arkham… what then? Where would he go? Did he even want to go back to Konoha after what happened? Maybe this could be a chance for a fresh start when he got out. Still… he was thrust into an unfamiliar place. Did he want to take his chances by staying in this Gotham? Or return to the familiarity of the Elemental Nations. Such complex questions, and he had no solid answers.

"You okay kid?" Selina asked with a raised eyebrow, feeling a bit uncomfortable by his silence and the slight brooding expression on his face.

"Just thinking. Wondering if I want to try going back to where I came from, or stick around and make the best of things here in Gotham." He replied back, causing his female companions to glance at one another before nodding in understanding since that was indeed a big decision.

"Take it from me. Life isn't set in stone, and nothing's certain. Not everything's gonna be cut and dry, so make the choice you feel most comfortable with… or feel has the consequences you can deal with." Cheshire answered, offering some advice to her new friend and temporary master. Although inwardly she was trying to come up with a plan to sneak into the Arkham mansion where the body of her true master, the Demon's head was kept, right by the office of Dr. Young.

Still, this boy would be a decent distraction… in more ways than one. Their respective musings were broken by the sound of heavy footsteps and the clicking of heels echoing down the cell block. They looked towards the source of the noise, upon seeing who was coming, Killer Frost sneered and spoke in a disgusted voice "Oh great. It's the beached Whale. Waller."

Naruto glanced outside of his cell and saw a… large… woman… being escorted by that Warden fellow and a contingent of heavily armed guards. This definitely wasn't good by the looks of it. "Waller? Who's that?" The blonde asked, having a bad feeling that this woman's presence meant trouble.

At his question, the Ice woman replied to him "Amanda Waller. She's the director of a shady Black ops organization called Cadmus, or most simply 'The Agency'. We've met a bunch of times… usually she shanghai's people into working in her 'suicide squad' which I've been a part of on several occasions. She straps some kind of explosive device on us that'll kill us if we decide to turn tail or disobey her orders. If she's here… she's probably 'recruiting' again."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit. That sounded rather familiar to him. He had heard of someone called Danzo that put together his own organization of Anbu called 'Root' that turned its operatives into emotionless drones, so it was shut down… supposedly. If this Waller person was in any way similar to Danzo, then things could go from bad to worse for him and his new friends.

Waller and the Warden stopped in front of his cell, the former having her hands clasped behind her back, until she raised a finger up and pointed at the Gening "Him. He's the one I'm looking for."

"Me?! The hell do you want me for?" Naruto demanded angrily, then turned his attention to Sharp while pointing an accusatory finger at the man and spoke "This wasn't part of the deal Sharp. Something you didn't tell me?"

The Warden chuckled darkly, showing a display of confidence that he lacked earlier and replied "I said that some new overseas friends paid me handsomely to keep you here… but Ms. Waller is offering far more for your services." At the end of his explanation, the word 'services' made an alarm ring in the boy's head. Remembering what Frost had told him about Waller's Suicide squad.

Waller smirked a bit and then spoke "Me and the Warden have an arrangement. If I need to enlist certain inmates, I come here to Arkham where Batman always dumps his rogue's gallery. The Warden here was telling me that some brat had the gall to blackmail him, so I got curious and looked into your file a bit.

You're from the Elemental Nations, a continent somewhere off of Japan that almost no one knows about. And when I dig a little deeper… I find out that a veritable nuke has just been sent to the USA. But still… one person's trash, another person's treasure." At the end of her explanation, the boy realized she had discovered his Jinchuuriki status somehow or other. Talk about fast work. Too fast for his liking. Someone must have tipped her off.

"Don't even think about it Waller… he's just a kid." Frost spoke, putting herself between the Director and her goon squad. Waller raised an eyebrow since the protective display was quite odd for the Ice user since things like compassion are quite alien to the numerous Villains. They'd throw each other under the bus or sell out for a few bucks if it meant saving their skins.

"You don't get a say. So glad you're volunteering to joining up again." Waller spoke with a deep frown, then snapped her fingers, prompting one of her men to produce some kind of collar, no doubt the device used to forcibly control people in her squad. Upon seeing the collar, Killer Frost immediately threw herself onto Waller and put her into a chokehold, closing off her windpipe

"RUN KID!" She screamed out, prompting the boy to leap off his cot and run down the cell block as fast as his legs could take him. The Warden shouted for the guards to stop the boy, while Waller's men tried to rip Killer Frost off of her. Cheshire and Selina engaged the Arkham guards, kicking their legs high into the air, hitting a pair of guards in the chest region, sending them falling into each other like dominos.

As the blonde ran away, he could hear the sounds of blows landing, with both Frost and Selina shouting for him to run away for his life. He had no choice, he had to keep running, he refused to be a slave to anyone. He would not be manipulated or controlled by anyone. As he ran, he saw a window without any iron bars, he leapt forward, covering his face with his arms as he burst through the glass and fell to the ground outside, the rain soaked mud softening his landing.

He scrambled to his feet and ran off in a random direction. He knew he needed to get out of here, and he needed to get out now. He looked around and saw the harbor, smirking to himself since he could use his Chakra to run across the water. He ran towards the water as quickly as possible and leapt forward, his feet landing on the water surface with a small splash as he ran towards the city of Gotham. An alarm ringing loudly behind him… though not necessarily for his escape. The Joker had made his move by starting a riot. Inadvertently preventing anyone from pursuing the Jinchuuriki.

It wasn't long before the Blonde made it across the waters and into Gotham city, he could do a run like that thrice over in his sleep thanks to his inhuman stamina and Chakra reserves. But right now, he had another problem, he was lost in unfamiliar territory, with no money, no means of income, and right now… he was an escaped fugitive. He would need a place to lie low, come up with some kind of a plan.

"I hope the girls will be okay." The blonde thought aloud as he crossed his arms, he then looked up towards the almost countless buildings towering over him and decided that it'd be a good idea to climb up one and get a better view. Focusing chakra to his feet once more, he scaled up the building with ease before reaching the roof. He looked around and could only see lights and cars littering the streets as far as the eye could see. At last he saw a building devoid of any signs of life even in a city like this, it seemed kind of rundown, possibly condemned. Seemed like a good place to lay low for a bit.

He hopped across the rooftops and then leapt towards the building itself, and channeled Chakra to his feet, allowing him to stick to the building's side as he made his way up to an open window. After entering inside, he narrowed his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the darkness, once his vision adjusted, he found the room to be rather odd in nature.

It was as if it were divided into two halves. One side being almost immaculately clean and the other seemed to be deliberately trashed and torn to pieces. He took a few steps deeper inside… until the lights flipped on and a voice spoke in a deep and almost ragged manner " **Who the hell are you runt?"**

The blonde turned towards the source of the voice and saw a man sitting behind a desk, holding a pistol in one hand and rolling a coin across his knuckles in the other. The blonde instantly saw that the man's face was scarred on one side, making for a rather intimidating appearance. The blonde raised his hands in surrender and spoke in a calming manner "Easy now mister. Not looking for trouble, just looking for a place to hide, I didn't know this was your spot."

The man stared at the kid for a few moments and then spoke in a smoother and calm tone "You're from Arkham." He gestured towards the boy's prison uniform, noting that the boy obviously escaped from the prison he himself had visited so many times before.

"Yup. Well… briefly. I was unjustly sent there after I killed a guy in self defense, then this fatass named Waller wanted to put a damn slave collar on me." The blonde explained, hoping to pacify the… two faced stranger.

"He doesn't seem to be lying. A story like that is too crazy to be made up… and we've heard crazier." The man spoke out loud before he began to speak again in a raspy voice " **True. We're in agreement then. The kid isn't lying."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow wondering why this stranger was having a conversation with himself, but he chose not to comment on it as the man lowered his weapon and got up from his seat. He extended a hand to the boy and spoke in a relaxed tone "Apologies for the scare. We thought you were somebody else. I am Harvey Dent, and you have already met my other half Two-Face. A pleasure to meet you."

The whiskered teen shook Dent's hand with a small smile and replied back "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Thanks for not shooting me."

"Of course. For a moment, I thought you might have been one of Batman's lackeys. But I digress, how on Earth did a boy your age escape from Arkham?" Harvey asked as he relaxed back into his seat, casually flipping his coin all the while.

"Let's just say I have a trick up my sleeve that lets me run across water. Though… I had to leave some friends behind. Killer Frost, Selina Kyle, and Cheshire bought me some time to get away." The blonde explained, feeling a little guilty that he did so. He could have helped them. He could have summoned his clones or something to help, but he didn't. He just ran away, like a coward.

" **How noble of them. Surprising really. Must have seen something special in you. So what's your story runt?"** Two Face asked out of curiosity, hoping to understand what made this boy tick. Naruto sighed and explained his story, how some old pervert almost threw him off a cliff, how he was royally screwed by the court system of his village, how he was shipped out of his home to Arkham, and ended with how he blackmailed the Warden, only for that Waller woman to try and put a slave collar on him.

"That's interesting news indeed. And Jane Doe has the evidence of the Warden's activities?" Dent asked with a smirk, if he got a hold on that kind of material, then it could prove pretty valuable. Still… being a former District attorney, he felt bad that the boy suffered from the corrupt system of the courts and was unjustly imprisoned. The boy seemed like an honest and surprisingly humble individual.

"Yup. She's impersonating a guard right now, but there's no way in hell I am going back to that shithole again. I'd sooner kill myself than be sent back there again." The boy grumbled as he crossed his arms since he didn't want to be found by that beached whale again.

" **A reasonable response. That place is indeed a 'shithole'. The doctors there aren't interested in actually helping, they just wanna get famous for 'curing' us. That's why animals like Zsazs keep getting out. The way I see it kid, you can either go back to the place that screwed you over, or you can try and make it big here."** Two Face responded with a smirk as he flipped his coin, letting it land on his desk before picking it up.

"Make it big? As a criminal? I never thought about turning to crime before." The blonde muttered, but then again Ninjas were hired mercenaries that were paid to perform less-than-legal missions. Spying, kidnapping, murder, so on and so forth. His skills wouldn't be difficult to translate for criminal purposes, but what he lacked was information. He didn't know the true workings of this city or its hierarchy, if there was one.

" **Good heads. We give the kid a helping hand. Bad heads, he's on his own."** Two Face muttered to himself and flipped his coin, the double headed coin landed in the palm of his hand showing the smooth and shiny side. Good heads had won out.

"You're in luck boy. I'll help you land on your feet and show you the ropes. For now… let's see about getting you to look the part. Prison duds aren't exactly ideal." Harvey spoke, pointing out the Arkham uniform. The whiskered teen shrugged with a small smile, after all, the clothes made the man. He kinda missed his old orange jumpsuit, though he had to admit… maybe it did stand out a bit too much. Maybe here in the big city, he'd go for a more classy look.

 **Meanwhile. In Konoha.**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS GONE?!" Shouted the form of Tsunade as she slammed her fists down on the Hokage's desk, and then ripped it in half before tossing the remains out the window. Hiruzen sat quietly, or perhaps he was frozen in fear of being smashed to pieces like that poor desk.

"That desk was almost a century old, and hand carved by the finest craftsmen of Konoha for the Shodaime." Hiruzen lamented since that desk was an almost constant companion for all Hokage, and as such, it was almost like losing an old friend.

"I don't give a rat's ass about a chunk of wood! Tell me what happened!" The Sannin almost screeched as she grabbed Hiruzen by his robes and lifted him out of his chair. If he hadn't told the Anbu to leave earlier, he was sure that a bloodbath would have taken place within his office.

"It was Jiraiya. From my understanding, he attempted to toss Naruto off a cliff to force the boy into tapping into the Kyuubi's power. But Naruto managed to fight back, take him by surprise, and kill him. After that, a murder trial took place and… well… there was nothing I could do." The Sandaime explained, which caused Tsunade's face to turn a dark red color with several throbbing tic-marks covering her head.

"Nothing?! Nothing you could..?!" The blonde woman shouted angrily, her voice sputtering in outrage. Her assistant Shizune placed a comforting hand on her master's shoulder and spoke in a calming tone "Tsunade-sama, please. Remember your blood pressure."

With a growl, the Senju woman set down the Hokage and proceeded to rub her temples. "This is all just so…so… FUCKED! That boy was the last hope of not one, but two clans! AND he is the son of a Hokage and one of the most powerful Kunoichi in history! AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE HAS BEEN SENT?! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" she shouted, the obvious lack of information plus the mishandling of Naruto's trial only adding to fuel her anger. If this kept up, then Konoha could be turned into a crater.

"I don't know! Someone went behind my back and had him shipped overseas. I suspect treachery. Though I have no idea who'd possibly be mad enough to send a Jinchuuriki to a foreign country, much less a new continent. For the time being, I am assembling a task force to find Naruto-kun. After Jiraiya's death, I was forced to stop the Chunin exams, no one is saying anything… but there's trouble on the horizon. The other villages can smell blood in the water, and the sharks are circling." He spoke with an exhausted sigh.

"So the only reason you need him back is because of his Jinchuuriki status?!" Tsunade growled out through grit teeth. At the implication, the Sandaime was forced to nod.

"That is the sad reality of the Shinobi world. It shames me but… the Jinchuuriki are irreplaceable assets. Sometimes I wish I could just throw away the Hokage mantle and see it all burn. Now I know why Kushina never took the job and called it a 'sick joke'." He spoke in a somber tone, many years of this accursed job taking its toll on him.

"Whatever, I'll find him. Though it won't be for the sake of this village or in Jiraiya's memory or some shit like that. I'm doing this for Naruto, and for the sake of our clans." She replied and crossed her arms beneath her large bust, wherever that boy was… she hoped he was all right.

 **The next morning. The Iceberg Lounge.**

"Gotta say Harv… I feel kinda out of place here in one of these high society joints." Spoke the form of Naruto as he sat next to his newest… acquaintance Two-Face. The blonde wore a crimson linen suit with a black shirt and crimson silk tie, all custom fitted just for him. He also had a pistol hidden on his person via a gun holster hidden under his arm.

He wasn't big on the idea of having a gun, largely because he had no prior training in handling one but he guessed he could always learn how. What really had him on the edge of his seat was how 'in the open' he was here at this club. It would be easy for Waller to find him like this if she was really the Director or a top secret 'Agency'

"Relax boy. It's pretty easy to fit in. Just say one thing while thinking about something else." Harvey replied while sipping at a glass of wine, prompting the boy to smirk a little bit.

"So, be a two faced liar then?" The boy asked, making the former DA sputter a bit before he chuckled. Wagging a finger at the boy's sense of humor since he pulled a pretty good pun there. Harvey then took notice that some of the waitresses and hostess kept on giving the boy certain… hungry looks as they passed by.

Choosing to ignore this Two Face decided to give the kid a piece of advice **"Careful runt. Lot of guys here in Gotham would kill you for cracking jokes like that. Or they might just slit your throat and watch you bleed to death for the hell of it."**

The whiskered teen gulped slightly and chuckled nervously before nodding in understanding, he then noticed a man in a top hat approaching who was carrying an umbrella, his short stature and beak like nose reminding him of a Penguin in some ways. "Ah. Mr. Dent. Welcome back to the Iceberg Lounge. And who is this young lad?" He spoke, greeting them in a polite manner.

"Mr. Cobblepot, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto, meet our host and owner of the Iceberg Lounge, Mr. Oswald Cobblepot, also known as the Penguin." Harvey spoke to his young charge who nodded with a smile and extended a hand towards the Penguin.

"A pleasure to meet you sir." The blonde politely greeted, attempting to put on his best manners since he was now in a 'high society' environment.

The Penguin shook the boys hand in return and responded "Likewise my boy." With that said, he turned his attention back to Two-Face and spoke to the former DA "I was just about to host a little poker game in the VIP lounge. Would you gents care to join?"

"It'd be impolite to refuse a generous invitation like that. Deal me in. Naruto, would you care to play? Could be a good learning experience for you." Harvey spoke with a small smirk. The boy instantly realized that Harvey was dropping a hint for him, Naruto immediately guessed that during these poker games it was possible that criminals could potentially be plotting against each other, or discuss mutually beneficial deals of some sort. Not to mention a chance to win some of your competition's money.

"Sure. I'm in." The boy spoke, deciding it would be best to see how this would pan out. With a nod, Penguin gestured for the two to follow him, guiding the two into a back room where a poker table awaited them. Standing next to it was one of the Hostesses of the Iceberg Lounge, a woman with Dark Skin and short cut black hair who tipped her bowler hat to greet them.

Sitting at the table was a blonde woman with a… dummy? "Hey. What's with the kid?" The woman or… at least… her dummy spoke. Pointing a questioning finger at the teenager in question. "I dunno… he's cute though." The woman spoke with a saucy grin, giving the boy a small wink.

The boy blushed a bit and wondered what the deal was with women around here. Back home, if he so much as gave Sakura a simple 'Hello' she'd punch him in the face, her and any other member of Sasuke's fan club, except maybe Ino who had some form of basic manners at least. Now whenever he walked into a room, women would be all… flirty with him.

"I invited these gents to join in our game, this young gentleman is Mr. Naruto Uzumaki. Do be nice and please, no shooting each other." The Penguin spoke as he gave his umbrella to a Hostess waiting outside the door, with Harvey relinquishing the two guns hidden inside his suit, prompting Naruto to do the same since he guessed that no weapons were allowed inside. Fire arms, plus mobsters, plus poker was probably a very bad mix.

"This little brat? Does he even know how to count?" The Dummy grumbled making the boy wonder what the deal was with its owner using it to mock him after making a flirtatious comment. Either she was messing with him… or there was something else to that puppet he wasn't aware of. He remembered that Makeup wearing guy in the cat suit had used puppets but they were built for combat rather than entertainment, and this one in the mobster outfit kind of gave him a weird feeling for some reason.

Once they took their seats, another Hostess with fair skin and blonde hair gave them their sets of poker chips. With the Dark skinned one shuffling a deck of cards before tossing each player their respective cards. "I don't believe we have been introduced. I am Peyton Riley, and this is the boss Scarface. Color me curious. But what's a young boy like you, doing rubbing shoulders with the likes of us?" The Ventriloquist asked out of curiosity, the puppet on her lap staring at Naruto since the moment he entered into the room.

"I was wondering that myself. It seems rather curious for one so young to join the criminal enterprise." Penguin piped in as he inspected his two cards.

The whiskered teen glanced over at the puppet… he was seriously getting some bad vibes coming off of that infernal thing, giving him a strong urge to throw it into a furnace. He cleared his throat and answered "Long story. But let's just say some not so pleasant people are after me, and I'm not interested in being a certain someone's slave."

"Cry us a river." The puppet grumbled dismissively, earning a 'hush' from Peyton which caused Scarface's mouth to drop open as the players each took turns adding their chips to the pot.

"Sounds like there is a much deeper story. Fascinating. I would love to hear more at a later date." Cobblepot spoke, very much wondering what this boy's whole story is, and finding it odd that Two-face had seemingly bonded with the boy so readily. Then again, that man often thought and acted based on that coin of his.

"I believe I saw you on the evening news. You escaped from Arkham, right? How'd you pull that off in the middle of that riot?" Peyton asked as she checked her cards, her question made the boy raise an eyebrow since he didn't want to reveal too much about his skills.

"I don't want to reveal the exact nature of how, but simply put, I have a certain trick that lets me run across water." He answered earning looks of admiration from the other poker players.

"That would certainly help in escaping Arkham. Wish I had a trick like that." Harvey commented as he rolled his signature coin across his knuckles. At last it came time to reveal their hands… showing that Naruto had won thanks to having a full house.

The Penguin adjusted his monocle and sent the Dealer, a woman called Raven, a questioning look since her job was to rig the game in his favor… although it wouldn't do if it was obvious that he was cheating, so he decided to let it slide. These poker games were more about gathering information than winning money, and all the other players knew it, except maybe that boy if he hadn't already guessed. Though he did seem to have a good head on his shoulders for the most part.

After collecting his winnings for this round, the blonde asked "Any of you know what's going on in Arkham right now?" That question had been burning in his mind since he escaped, there was no doubt that the authorities would be after him at any moment. Plus he was still worried about the new friends he had left behind.

"The news says that the Joker orchestrated a massive riot, seizing control of the Asylum. He failed after being defeated by the Batman and the inmates were quickly rounded up, barring a few escapees that got away in the confusion, yourself included. I'm still waiting for more information from my associates." The Penguin explained making the boy hmm slightly in thought. He didn't remember seeing any rioting so it must have happened shortly after his escape.

"Any casualties… like a certain beached whale called Amanda Waller?" The whiskered boy asked almost desperately hoping and wishing that someone shanked Waller in that hellhole asylum.

"The casualty reports haven't been finalized yet, though no Waller person is among the confirmed. It is mostly Arkham guards that were killed." Penguin answered as he adjusted his monocle, making the boy sigh in frustration. Of course someone as rotten as Waller would most likely survive. Seemed that the Universe itself either had a sense of humor, or just enjoyed being an asshole.

"What did this Waller person do to you sweetie? Did she… touch you?" Riley asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering what the young boy's beef was with this 'beached whale' as he described. Her question earning a sadistic and dark chuckle from the puppet in her lap prompting her to glare at the dummy for his behavior.

Naruto continued to wonder if Peyton was truly in control of the puppet… or if it had a sentience of its own. "Thank Kami she didn't otherwise I'd probably feel inclined to kill myself. She wanted to put some kind of Slave collar on me so she could make me into a weapon. Ya see… due to certain circumstances of my birth I am well… both valuable and dangerous to a lot of people." He answered, hinting at his Jinchuuriki status without giving away too much personal information about himself.

"Thought a tween like you would be into that kinda thing." The puppet mocked the blonde boy, earning a throbbing tic-mark on his forehead, but he noticed that Peyton beared an expression of both horror and embarrassment as she face palmed herself with her free hand.

"Okay. That does it. What's the problem with that damn muppet?" Naruto snapped since he was now fed up with the odd behavior of Peyton and Scarface. There was definitely something going wrong here.

"Who're you calling a muppet?! I'm one of the biggest crime bosses in Gotham ya little twerp! I was gunning young punks like you down before you were even in dia…" The puppet was cut off mid sentence when the blonde woman yanked her hand out of his backside and then tossed him aside with a look of disgust on her face.

She brushed aside a lock of hair, revealing the scarred side of her face with a fogged over eye as she spoke "My apologies… I don't know what got into him. I think Mr. Scarface needed a nap." She apologized in a sincere tone.

" **Take it from us kid. There's definitely something screwy about that puppet. I wouldn't be surprised if that infernal thing had a mind of its own."** Two-Face muttered implying that it was possible that the blonde woman didn't truly have control of the puppet.

Naruto blinked several times and shrugged, at least now the damn thing would shut up. He supposed that he had encountered stranger things, and he had a Bijuu sealed inside of him for crying out loud, so who was he to judge? "Right. Well now that the muppet is finally quiet, how about we continue the game?" The blonde boy politely suggested earning some nods from the other players. As the round progressed, the whiskered teen kept on raising higher and higher.

Not feeling confident in their hands, the others all folded… only to discover the boy had a bad hand himself. They all silently kicked themselves for falling for that trick, seemed the boy was a better player than anticipated… or maybe he was just having a case of beginners luck. Still, everyone knows that the game of Poker is never finished in a single round.

As the minutes kept on ticking by, the chips kept on piling up for young Naruto. And the others were astonished at his unbelievable luck, though Penguin wondered if the boy was truly lucky… or if the Dealer decided to rig the game for the boy instead to get in his good graces. For some reason every one of his female employees/guards seemed unusually smitten with the boy, just what was his secret? He had just won about five million dollars by now after this game.

"Seems like lady luck favors you kid. Those winnings should be more than enough to help you get your start. Though it won't last forever, and I don't think your luck is infinite." Harvey spoke as he flipped his coin, which landed on its side, rolling towards the boy before coming to a stop in front of him, landing on the 'Good Heads'

"You're right Harv. I'm going to need to get set up, and soon. But I don't have a powerbase, and it would take way too much time to build a criminal empire from the ground up, meaning I'd probably have to somehow take control of another gang." The whiskered teen noted with a grimace.

" **Rupert Thorne's one of the biggest fish in Gotham. He's got an extensive smuggling operation involving drugs, weapons, and so on. If you take him out, you might be able to take his gang."** Two-Face suggested, still bearing a deep grudge for the mob boss responsible for what happened to him and his face.

"It would take a major Thorn out of all our sides… Pun intended." The Ventriloquist spoke with a small smile, her joke earning a few chuckles from the other crime bosses. The whiskered teen smirked since now he had a target to aim for, but he doubted he had the needed skill to take on a Crime Lord alone.

But then… he knew some people that might be able to help him out. And he just won a very useful supply of cash that he could use. And he knew just how to put it to use. "Sounds interesting… I actually have an idea if you don't mind helping out a little." The blonde suggested with a sly smile, making his new cohorts curious about his proposal.

 **A few days later. Outside of Arkham**.

"Does anyone know what we're doing out here?" Spoke the form of Harley Quinn as she sat on her duffel bag. With her were the forms of Poison Ivy, Killer Frost, and Selina Kyle.

"Didn't you get the memo Quinn? We've been bailed out of Arkham." Selina spoke in a matter of fact tone. It was most probably someone that wanted their service to pull some jobs or a heist that required their particular skills. Wouldn't be the first time… wouldn't be the last.

"Oh yeah. Right." Harley muttered distractedly, a part of her being worried since the Joker OD'd on that Titan stuff and was currently in critical condition. She wasn't sure what was going on with him… but the doctors said it wasn't good.

"At least we're out and about and not on Waller's leash. Damn it felt good to kick the stuffing out of that fatass bitch!" The Ice user shouted gleefully, pumping her fist in the air. After attacking Waller, choking her out and clocking her on the head, the Joker's riot prompted her goons to get her out somehow or other. Probably had a chopper or a boat kept stashed for a quick getaway.

Still, Waller hadn't shown up or reared her fat head since then. At least now she wasn't in danger of being 'recruited' into the Suicide squad again. There was more good news, Naruto somehow managed to escape since she overheard the Head of Security, Cash say that the boy was still unaccounted for.

Their ears perked up as a car engine approached, a black limousine rolling up and stopping in front of them. A window rolled down revealing Naruto seated next to Peyton Riley, the new Ventriloquist… who was currently without her other half for some reason.

"Can I offer you ladies a lift?" Naruto asked with a charming smile, his very presence making their faces light up with glee at seeing him again. He opened the door, granting them entry inside. They all climbed inside though Naruto frowned for a moment as he asked "What happened to Cheshire?"

"Gone. She escaped sometime during the riot. No idea where she is now, probably went back to her League of Assassins." Ivy answered with a sultry smile, as she sat next to the boy. He sighed in relief, glad that a fellow Ninja managed to get away.

"Good to know. Any idea what happened to Bane or Killer Croc?" He asked since he tried to get them out along with Chesire, it only seemed right since they helped him escape from a potentially gruesome death. But was told that they were 'unavailable' and wasn't given a reason as to why. Guess Arkham was still in shambles considering what a 'Titanic' mess the Joker left behind.

"I overheard that Bane got sent into the harbor by Batman's car. And Croc is somewhere down in the sewers. Good luck finding those two. At this moment, I don't think they really want to be found." Selina answered with a yawn, glancing over at the form of Peyton. Seemed like the boy once trapped in Arkham was moving up since he was now in a Limo.

"Damn. They helped me out so I was hoping to repay the favor. Guess that'll have to wait." Naruto muttered, at least he had gotten a hold of the others for now.

"Alright, I'm just gonna ask the question that's on everyone's minds. Why'd you bail us out of jail and why are you with the Ventriloquist?" Harley asked impatiently, stamping her foot on the floor almost like a child.

"Well, I met some new friends. Decided to take up a life of crime since I currently have few options on the table, and I'm gonna need your help in taking down a guy called Thorne. See, Ms Riley here and Two-face has been showing me the ropes, teaching me all I need to know. And some of the greatest weapons in Gotham, is money, influence and Super criminals. The last one, Thorne doesn't have any of those, at least to my knowledge."

"Ohhhhh this sounds like its gonna be fun… so where's your partner 'Sugar'?" Harley asked the Ventriloquist, spitting out the nickname with some venom since it left a bad taste in her mouth since it was what that damned muppet called his newest partner.

"He's… on a timeout. Apparently he didn't take a liking to this cutie pie like I did." The mobster woman replied since Scarface was currently tucked away in a suitcase, out of sight and out of mind since he attempted to shoot the boy at one point. And she couldn't stand for that for some reason.

"One more thing ladies… I have noticed that most if not all Criminals here in Gotham have some kind of epithet. Before I had you all released, I made sure to erase my own records so I could disappear. Only refer to me by name in a private. When working a job for me call me… Kingpin." He spoke with a broad smile since he came up with his own nickname. They all nodded in understanding, believing it to be a nickname that'd catch on.

Then… before he knew it, he felt a cold sensation on one cheek and a burning sensation on the other. Both Frost and Ivy were kissing his cheeks. "That's for getting us out boss." Ivy spoke in a sultry tone.

"Make way ladies! I gotta have a turn!" Harley yelped as she began wildly planted kisses of her own on the boy. Soon… the Limo was filled with the sounds of smooching.

 **Elsewhere. Gotham clocktower.**

"Holy hell." Muttered the form of Barbara Gordon as she sat in front of one of her many computers. After the Arkham riot had been resolved, she began monitoring all of Gotham for any signs of escapees. Cheshire had already vanished with the body of Ra's Al Ghul and was probably delivering it to the League of Assassins so that he could be revived once more.

Killer Croc and Bane were now like ghosts. The former could be anywhere in the maze of sewers, and Bane could wash up anywhere in Gotham so it was currently impossible to find them. Finally she came to Naruto Uzumaki and discovered that his file had recently been deleted… almost like he never existed. Fortunately she had a copy of her own on record.

Q

The poor kid had a rough time judging by what happened to him with his trial… but that wasn't the most shocking part, she looked into his medical records that were taken just hours before he incarceration. If her research was correct, then his body was constantly putting out powerful pheromones that had a tremendously powerful effect on others, most especially the opposite sex. Those affected would feel compelled to support and protect him, and… desire him.

And that wasn't all. From his blood and tissue samples, she found that his body was capable of high speed regenerative capabilities. If her calculations were right, his abilities would only get stronger and stronger over time. She didn't know why, but it seemed like his body had some kind of… energy inside of it that was both powerful and unstable. If it were to go out of control, then well… Gotham could end up at the bottom of the sea.

Perhaps most disturbing of all… his file had been flagged by Amanda Waller's Agency, and it was likely they had a copy of their own. If Waller was looking for him, it could only mean trouble. She would need to inform Batman about this, and fast before things got out of control.

 **End chapter two.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I apologize for the long wait, I have been busy with trying to find a new and better job to escape my old one. Applications, interviews, the works. So sorry. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Reviews and Feedback are always welcome. Thanks very much for your time and patience.**

 **Chapter three: Circles within Circles. Part one.**

It was yet another late night in Gotham City, and within a certain restaurant was one of the biggest Crime bosses in the city, Rupert Thorne. Some laughter could be heard as he and some of his most trusted bodyguards were enjoying their evening meal.

However, even as Thorne took a bite of lasagna, the wheels were still turning in his mind. Like his many rivals, Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, and perhaps Roman 'Black Mask' Sionis, he was considered an old-school mobster. His criminal empire involved numerous rackets, money laundering, drugs, and so on and so forth.

The various themed Villains that Batman often combated were volatile, unpredictable, and impossible to control. However a new individual was on the scene, someone no one had even heard of until recently, someone calling himself 'The Kingpin'.

And apparently this 'Kingpin' was planning on taking over his criminal empire. If he truly did have Super Criminals in his arsenal, then that would… complicate matters. Especially since the only deterrent for those kinds of criminals was… the Batman himself.

Thorne's musing was interrupted when the restaurant's front door opened, causing a bell to chime. A blonde man entered inside with a broad smile and spoke "Evening gentleman. My Apologies for interrupting your dinner. But I needed a quick word with you mister Thorne."

The Mob boss raised an eyebrow while his men glared at the newcomer suspiciously. Their hands slowly reaching into their coats in case they needed to draw their weapons. "Something I can help you with mister..?" Thorne asked, pausing at the end since he didn't know the stranger's name.

"Minato Namikaze. Though you may refer to me… as the Kingpin." The blonde man spoke and gave a small bow, making Thorne narrow his eyes a bit before smirking.

"So you're the new guy. You have some balls coming in here, especially with the rumors going around that you're looking to take over my empire." Thorne spoke with a small chuckle as he sipped his wine.

"True. Though I figured a courtesy call was in order. I just wanted to inform you that my takeover of your Empire is strictly business. Nothing personal. Establishing my own network and empire would take months, maybe even years, and I don't have the luxury of time for that. So I figured I'd just take it from one of the big dogs. You.

Now then, I have an offer for you Mr. Thorne… leave Gotham quietly with as much money as you can carry and you will be spared. Refuse, and you shall die within approximately twelve hours time." Minato spoke with a small shrug, prompting Thorne's men to pull their guns out and point them at the blonde man, the safeties clicking a few times to make sure their weapons were ready to fire.

"You think you can come and make threats punk? It's gangsters like me that made Gotham what it is! You really think you can come to my city and take away what I have built?" Thorne demanded angrily as he slammed his fist on the table.

The blonde simply snapped his fingers, and then the sound of a whip cracking was heard and Thorne's bodyguards had their pistols ripped out of their hands. When Thorne looked behind the Kingpin, he saw the forms of both Catwoman and Killer Frost standing behind him with devilish grins on their faces.

"Like I said Mr. Thorne. This is a courtesy call. I gave you fair warning, so don't say I didn't give you a way out. Enjoy your dinner gentlemen." The blonde man spoke with a small bow and then turned on his heel, departing from the restaurant with both the burglar and ice woman following close behind. Thorne narrowed his eyes at the Kingpin's retreating form until the man disappeared from view.

The guy certainly had some stones on him, that's for sure. He'd give the Kingpin that much credit. And it seemed he would need to make extra preparations if this guy tried something in the next twelve hours.

Meanwhile, outside the restaurant a black limousine was waiting for the Kingpin and his bodyguards with Harley Quinn yawning a bit as she leaned against the car. She almost immediately perked up upon seeing her boss and opened the door for him, giving him a salute as if she were greeting the president.

He chuckled at her antics as he stepped inside, followed by Selina and Frost, and then by Harley herself who shut the door with a small thunk. Once the door slammed shut the form of 'Minato' vanished in a puff of smoke and was replaced by Naruto who gave a sigh of relief. "Damn. Maintaining a Henge under pressure is way harder than I thought." Naruto mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Nice trick. A flawless disguise like that certainly comes in handy. But then, I guess people would have difficulty taking 'The Kingpin' seriously if they knew he was a kid." Selina pointed out with a saucy grin, a part of her wishing she had a trick like that. It would certainly make it easier to do some recon on potential heists if she could pull it off.

"Much obliged. There will likely come a time when my true identity is revealed. Till that time, it is best I limit how many people know my true form. By the way…" The blonde smiled as he turned towards another occupant sitting inside the limo and continued to speak "Big thanks to you Ivy. For charming the chef and poisoning Thorne's dinner."

Poison Ivy smiled deviously and replied "My pleasure. Where to now? The Iceberg Lounge?" She asked, her hand reaching towards the phone connected to the limo's driver to relay the boy's instructions.

"Yeah. I have some business to discuss with the others." The whiskered teen spoke, making the plant expert nod as she picked up the phone and ordered the driver to head towards the Iceberg Lounge. Naruto sighed as he crossed his arms and thought about the looming presence of Waller. So long as she remained on the playing field, he wouldn't truly be safe. He'd need to level the playing field. And soon. He would soon have a powerbase for his own crime syndicate.

Courtesy of the soon-to-be-late Rupert Thorne, but he also knew that it was likely someone else would seek to take what he had. The criminal enterprise was an extremely cutthroat and competitive business. He would need to make connections and alliances. For the time being, he was on largely friendly terms with three of the biggest mob bosses in Gotham… well… two and a half if you cut out a certain muppet. But how long would they stay friendly he wondered?

His musing was cut short when they had arrived at the Penguin's club with surprising speed. He would need to thank the man himself for setting him up with such an effective driver. Naruto formed a single hand-sign and reformed the Henge of Minato to maintain his public disguise since he didn't want to risk pushing his luck in his true form anymore.

"Shall we ladies?" The Kingpin spoke, putting on his most charming smile as both Ivy and Selina each took an arm, Killer Frost and Harley pouted a bit as they exited the car, with the former putting her arms beneath her bust, and the latter lazily resting her bat on her shoulder as they entered inside the Lounge. When they made it through the doors, they were almost immediately greeted by a hostess who was sporting a large blush on her cheeks.

"Welcome to the Iceberg Lounge… May I help you handsome?" The hostess spoke as she tipped her bowler hat a bit. 'Minato' smirked a bit since this had become fairly common for him now and replied "Yes. I'm the Kingpin, the Penguin is expecting me."

At that, the hostess smiled brightly and answered "Yes sir. Right this way." With that said, they were guided to one of the back rooms in the VIP section of the club where a pair of the Penguin's henchwomen could be seen standing guard. "Candy. Raven. Lovely to see you both." The Kingpin greeted, causing the two women to giggle and blush a little as they opened the door for him and his colleagues.

When they entered inside, they were greeted by the waiting forms of Two-Face, the Penguin and the Ventriloquist. As soon as the doors closed behind him, the blonde relaxed and allowed his Henge to vanish in a puff of smoke since these people were already privy to his true form. " **So how'd it go with Thorne? The fat man dead yet?"** Two-Face asked impatiently as he anxiously flipped his cloin since the man was responsible for his scarring.

"Not yet. But he may as well be. In about twelve hours or so, he'll be choking to death on his own blood. Him and some of his top goons." The Jinchuuriki answered, earning a sadistic chuckle from the former DA.

"Hope you're proud of yourself kid. Now it's only a matter of time before someone whacks YOU off." Scarface grumbled, making his displeasure for the blonde clear as day.

"Indeed. By a woman preferably." Naruto responded and sent a flirtatious wink towards Peyton, making her smirk a little at the innuendo.

"Am I a joke to ya?!" Scarface shouted, flailing his small arms about in outrage. Fortunately, any weapons he had were already confiscated earlier, which didn't make him much of a threat now.

"Actually… yeah. You kind of are. Where's a bonfire when you need it?" The blonde joked a little, earning some laughter from the others, including Peyton herself. Before the puppet had a chance to bicker further, the blonde woman slipped her hand out of Scarface's back, letting him lifelessly slump forward.

"Now that the muppet is quiet, we can get down to some real business. Scarface did make one solid point though, once I take over Thorne's gang, it's only a matter of time before someone comes to kill me to take it from me. Might be a rival gang… might be one of you." Naruto pointed out as he crossed his arms a bit.

"What? You saying you don't trust us?" Harvey asked in a mock hurt tone as he flipped his coin and then began rolling it across his knuckles in a casual manner.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and replied "Trust is earned, not given. And in the criminal element? Trust is especially limited. You all seem like an okay sort to me, you haven't sold me out yet. Though there's not much stopping you from doing so if it is for your own benefit or survival."

"Fast learner this one." The Penguin stated with a hint of pride, tipping his hat towards the boy for adapting so quickly to the criminal enterprise.

"Appreciate the compliment. However, I'm faced with another problem. So long as Waller is on my tail, I'll be looking over my shoulder far more than I need to. And on top of that I'm still a wanted fugitive." The blonde lamented with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Indeed, though we won't be of much help in that regard." Penguin sighed since he wasn't about to mess around with government spooks. Especially the well-armed, well-funded, and ruthless variety.

"Don't worry about me. I already have a plan in mind. Once I'm finished with Waller, I hope we can discuss a more permanent alliance." The blonde spoke with a smirk, earning some nods from his cohorts.

"There's one more thing kid… What about Jane Doe? You said she had damning evidence against Warden Sharp. Word on the grapevine is that he's planning to run for mayor, claiming he was instrumental in stopping the Joker's riot." Harvey asked with a raised eyebrow, causing both Penguin and the Ventriloquist to look expectantly at the boy for an explanation.

"Ah. Right. I didn't get around to telling you. I tried to find Jane Doe by locating her persona as an Arkham guard… but she had been declared amongst the missing after the riot. Best guess? Jane Doe likely flew the coop and escaped to find a new identity to settle into. Either way, she's in the wind now. Still, even if we don't have that evidence, knowing its existence and contents provide a certain advantage. If we start spreading rumors about Sharp's activities, people are gonna start asking him questions. Questions he won't have answers to." The blonde explained with a grin.

"Questions that will gain the curiosity of the Batman. Good thinking." Peyton complimented with a grin, earning some nods from her fellow mobsters. The mentioning of their long-time enemy gaining a look of curiosity from the boy.

"What's the deal with this 'Batman'? I've heard talk and whispers about him for a while now." Naruto asked out of curiosity, earning some puzzled looks from his associates. In the background Quinn sent a small glare at Catwoman since it was pretty well known the burglar had Batman had an on-again-off-again relationship. One would think she would have given him the run-down.

However it was Club owner who spoke first "Ah. I suppose we forgot you haven't been in Gotham for long. Batman is a vigilante that has spent many years disrupting our business and trying to put, and keep us in prison. He may not have superpowers, but he is still ranked as a top-tier hero. You could say he's a 'fight smarter, not harder' type of person. The rest I imagine you can discover for yourself."

The blonde pursed his lips for a moment then spoke "To fight crime effectively, he would need a strong information network. He can't be everywhere at once, so it's likely he keeps a small circle of individuals he can whole-heartedly trust nearby. He must also have connections to the police to increase the effectiveness of his operations. That about sum it up?" Once the boy had finished speaking, the stunned silence showed that he had hit the nail on the head.

From the many whispers and snippets of information that the blonde had heard about this Batman, it sounded like the man had some form of training as a Ninja. From martial arts, to scare tactics and so forth. Fortunately for him… he knew how ninjas operate. But that would be something for later. For now, he had a plan of action to dealing with Waller and possibly clearing his fugitive status. And he wasn't going to waste time by twiddling his thumbs.

 **Later. GCPD, Commissioner Gordon's office.**

Gordon sighed at his desk as he took a long drag from his pipe which had been found and later returned to him after the riot in Arkham. According to some reports from the doctors, after the Joker had OD'ed on that Titan Formula, his own body was slowly turning against him and killing him from the inside out. To be perfectly honest, Gordon was actually looking forward to, and perhaps dreading the moment the clown would expire.

Most of the inmates had been found and rounded up thanks to the Batman's efforts. Although amongst the escapees, was Bane, Killer Croc, Cheshire, and that Naruto boy that had vanished as well. For the life of him, Gordon couldn't understand why a child would be sent to Arkham of all places.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a cool draft coming from his window, he glanced over and found it to be open. Which could only mean one thing "Something I can help you with?" Gordon asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"You're getting better." The Batman spoke as he emerged from the shadows, his tone indicating a hint of admiration for Gordon detecting his presence.

"You don't get to live in this job for long without picking up a few things. Anything on the Arkham escapees?" Gordon asked since he guessed that was why his ally was here.

"Yes. I have recently received information about one of the escapees from a reliable source. Along with something else. To start, Naruto Uzumaki's record is fairly spotty, from what little that was dug up, his trial in the courts appear to have been rigged after he supposedly murdered a man despite his claims that it was Self-defense. His file has also been flagged by Waller's Agency, likely due to his abilities. Pheromone production, regeneration, and perhaps most dangerously a unique and unstable energy that could equate to a tactical nuke." The Batman explained in order to keep Gordon in the loop.

It was usually a good idea to inform the police of what they were dealing with so they could better prepare themselves for any potential fallout. "Waller, eh? If she's taken an interest in the kid, that can only spell trouble. It might also explain why he escaped from Arkham if she was actually there."

"There's something else. A few hours ago, a man calling himself 'The Kingpin' appeared and made threats against Rupert Thorne. He also had the backing of Killer Frost and Catwoman." The Batman spoke and pulled out a device, showing a picture of a blonde man with both of the Supervillains guarding him from Thorne's men.

"I thought they were in Arkham. Who is this guy?" Gordon asked as he adjusted his glasses, he certainly hadn't heard of someone called the Kingpin before. And here in Gotham, a name can mean everything. It can help establish a reputation, respect, and other things.

"I'm not sure. I've had every file and record combed for any evidence, but he doesn't exist anywhere. He's a new talent. And he's already making big moves. He arranged for the release of Catwoman, Killer Frost, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn a short while ago. They're likely working off the debt of their release for him. I have a strong feeling that this 'Kingpin' isn't a common mobster." The Dark Knight spoke grimly, he had seen many criminals from all walks of life, from the petty, to the career type, the desperate, and the insane. But this seemed to be something else. Something new.

Their conversation was interrupted when the door was shoved open by detective Bullock who said "Someone to see you Commissioner." The detective turned his head a bit and took notice the Batman was present, but didn't seem to care he had interrupted them.

"This had better be important Bullock. We were in the middle of something." Gordon warned the detective as he took a drag from his pipe. Bullock smirked a bit and stepped to the side, allowing a small figure to step through the doorway… revealing one Naruto Uzumaki. The Arkham escapee himself.

"I think you guys were looking for me?" The boy spoke with a small smile, now wearing his prison jumpsuit that was now caked in dirt and mud.

"How'd you find him Bullock?" Gordon asked as he got up from his chair while adjusting his glasses.

"I didn't. The kid came up to the front door and knocked." The detective answered in a blunt tone, though he too seemed kind of surprised by this development. It wasn't often when a fugitive literally walked into a police station willingly. Before their conversation could continue, they were interrupted by a distinctive grumbling sound that was coming from the boy who blushed a bit in embarrassment,

"Sorry about that… you guys got any food around here?" Naruto asked with a sheepish grin. Gordon chuckled a bit and replied "I'm sure we can find something for you. You've been through a lot, haven't you?" Gordon replied with a smile.

A few minutes later, the blonde was sitting in front of Gordon's desk, munching on some donuts with a cup full of milk. He seemed to take a large liking to the jelly filled ones. "Damn. These are friggin' good." The boy spoke as chomped down on another donut.

"How did you escape from Arkham?" Batman asked as he stood in a dark corner of the room, his mask mixed with the shadows making it hard to read his expression. Though if one had to guess, it was likely he was evaluating the boy.

"I'm a ninja, I ran across the water." The whiskered teen answered as he happily bit into another donut. The policemen seemed skeptical at his words, but then given the variety of crooks and outrageous skills, tricks and powers they had, they guessed running across water wasn't that big a stretch.

"Does the name Amanda Waller mean anything to you?" The Batman asked again, this time though, the blonde tensed up in the middle of his chewing before he swallowed and looked in the Dark Knight's direction.

"A walking tub of lubber with no scruples about enslavement and a mighty high opinion of herself? Yeah. it does. She's the reason I had to escape from Arkham." The blonde answered in a disgruntled tone, inwardly he thought about potentially mentioning Sharp, but decided that he should teach the man what it meant to double-cross the newly dubbed Kingpin.

"I take it that it was about your abilities?" Gordon asked as he rubbed his temples before placing a fresh batch of tobacco in his pipe and then lit it.

"Yeah. Due to certain circumstances surrounding my birth… well… let's just say a LOT of people are out to get me. They either want me dead, or on the end of a leash." Naruto answered bitterly as he chomped on another donut and seemingly swallowed it whole with ease.

"You have a fairly broad range. Your pheromone production makes people around you, especially females more open to suggestion. And your regenerative capabilities would make you impossible to kill by conventional means." The Batman pointed out, and then took notice when the boy had a confused look on his face.

"Say wha now? Something about pheromones and regeneration?" Naruto asked out loud in complete surprise. This was the first time he had ever heard of having abilities like that. Since when did he have those abilities? Unless… had he activated some kind of bloodline or something when that Jiraiya bastard tried to kill him? That would help explain some of the things going on around him, most especially when it came to women.

"You didn't know." The Batman stated matter of factly, it seemed the boy wasn't fully aware of his capabilities. Though he must have been aware of at least some of them since he had run from Waller. Either these abilities were new mutations or the boy simply hadn't taken notice of them until now.

"No. I didn't. This is all news to me. Anyways, I didn't want to live as a fugitive. So I came here to the police. I heard you were a good man, Commissioner Gordon. And I heard the Batman is one of the best heroes on Earth. You gotta protect me from Waller!" The boy pleaded at the end, obviously desperate to be free from the threat of Cadmus and the Agency.

"Don't you worry son. We're not gonna let Waller have her way with you." Gordon spoke, giving the boy his solemn promise. To protect and serve was part of the job after all.

"Please don't say it like that. Now it sounds like Waller is some kind of pedophile." Naruto grumbled, his face turning a shade of green while Bullock had to stifle a laugh. Gordon seemed a bit flustered by his blunder as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Gordon. Keep Naruto safe. I'll deal with Waller." The Dark Knight stated, before anyone could get another word in, he had already vanished out of existence as though he had never even been there to begin with.

Gordon sighed a bit and shook his head, turning towards the blonde boy "I guess you'll be needing a place to stay for a while. You can stay at my place till we find a more permanent residence for you." The Commissioner offered, earning a nod of thanks from the boy. Naruto could tell that Gordon was a good man, and an honest cop that hasn't been corrupted by the system. He wouldn't bend the knee to Waller. That was good to know. So far, his plan was going smoothly, but this was only part one. What followed next would be absolutely crucial.

 **Later. Gordon's apartment.**

Barbara sighed tiredly as she rubbed her eyes a bit, she had been staring at her computer screen for hours now, keeping an eye out for any signs of Cadmus or the missing inmates from Arkham. And now she had a new Person of Interest dropped on her plate as she stared at the paused frame showing a blonde man visiting Rupert Thorne in one of his favorite restaurants.

She had gone through every criminal database in the entire world with a fine-tooth comb and found absolutely nothing on him. No matches on Facial or retinal scans. It was as if the man had just dropped out of the sky. Normally, whenever a random hoodlum made threats against a crime boss, it often wasn't taken seriously. The smart ones never follow through on their threats. But then random hoodlums don't have the backing of Super criminals.

She glanced into her mirror and noted that her eyes were becoming bloodshot, she decided now would be a good time to stop for the night and continue later. If there was anything to work with, she would have found it by now. She'd have to trust Batman to handle the rest. She sighed and shut down her computer before wheeling herself near her bed.

She grabbed her legs one at a time and lowered them to the floor. Taking a deep breath she slowly lifted herself out of her wheelchair and pushed herself up until she was standing on her own two legs. The doctors said she may never walk again after getting shot through the spine by the Joker. But she wasn't ready to give up just yet. She wasn't going to give up her legs until it was absolutely certain she was beyond any hope of recovery.

It used to be her legs would give out almost immediately, but as time went on, she started to stand for a few seconds, now she could stretch it to minutes. Always keeping close by to her bed for support or something soft to land on in case her legs couldn't stand the pressure anymore. For this session, she didn't feel any discomfort in her legs from standing.

Her face twitched a bit as she slowly lifted up one leg and took a tentative step forward, then she repeated the process with her other foot. After every few seconds she would cautiously step forward, pushing herself onwards. She beamed at her own success knowing that she was definitely on the way to a full recovery. She could only imagine the surprise and elation on her father's face when she revealed she could walk again. But she wanted to wait until she had full mobility again before revealing the big news.

Anything could happen and she didn't want to give him hope, only for it to come crashing down. A large part of her also wished to fully recover so she could once again don her Batgirl persona once again. Those had been some of the best years of her life, jumping across rooftops, pulverizing crooks, helping both Batman and her father keep the city safe. She would give almost anything to return to those days. And it seems that her wishes were well within reach if she kept up this pace.

She spent a few more minutes carefully pacing about her room, and then felt her legs starting to lose her strength. Not wanting to take an unnecessary risk, Barbara lowered herself back into her wheelchair once again. A look of satisfaction on her face since she felt this was a highly productive session.

Her ears perked up when she heard the locks clicking to the apartment door followed by a shout of "Barb! I'm home! And I brought a guest!" She smiled warmly since she was glad that her father had returned safely once again. Then she became puzzled, wondering who her father had brought with him.

"Coming!" She called out and began to push the wheels on her chair forward to enter the living room. She saw her father hanging his signature trenchcoat, and with him was a familiar young boy who's picture she had researched and had seen all across the evening news. Naruto Uzumaki himself.

"Naruto, this is my daughter Barbara. Sorry I didn't call Barb, plans kind of changed when this little guy waltzed right into the GCPD, then we had to stop by a thrift store. He'll be staying with us for a bit." Her father explained as he gestured to the boy who was now wearing a plain white T-shirt and some jeans for the moment.

"Nice to meet you Barbara." The whiskered teen politely greeted as he extended his hand towards her. She stared blankly at him for a few moments, feeling her cheeks start to burn a bit. Looking at him up close in person, he was kind of cute. She just wanted to reach out and start petting those whisker like markings. ' _NO! Bad Barbara! Do not think those kind of thoughts! It's just the pheromones talking. Juuuuuust keep focus.'_ She spoke in her mind, trying to keep from getting distracted.

"What's wrong? Did a cat catch your tongue or something? Or is this the first time you've had a hardcore crook in your house?" The blonde teen asked with a smile, only for it to quickly fade away when Barbara smacked his hand away and retreated back into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Naruto was stunned for a few seconds as he dumbly blinked before finally turning to Jim and asked "Did I say something wrong?"

Jim sighed a bit as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose before answering "Poor choice of words son. A few years ago, a maniac called the Joker broke into our apartment and shot my daughter. He's the reason she's in that wheelchair. Joker then kidnapped me, tried to drive me insane. Did some pretty horrible things. Barb won't say anything, but I think she still has nightmares about it on occasion but she still keeps up a strong front so I can focus on my job. That girl is tough as they come."

At the end of his explanation, Naruto stared at the door leading to Barbara's room and spoke "I see. I'll give her a few minutes to cool off and then apologize to her. I didn't know about that."

"Yeah. I guess I should have warned you about that. I guess I'll need to apologize a little too. But don't worry, Barbara is a pretty understanding girl, she'll always forgive an honest mistake." Jim spoke and gently patted the boy's shoulder in encouragement before taking a seat on the couch. "You can borrow my bed while you're here." Gordon spoke as he gestured towards another door that was half open.

"You sure? I can always take the couch." Naruto asked, only for the Commissioner to wave him off with a dismissive chuckle.

"Nah. Don't worry about it. This couch is like an old friend to me. I sometimes sit in it and fall right to sleep after a long night of work." Jim explained with a small smile, causing the blonde to chuckle a bit since he himself had a similar relationship with his own couch after a long pranking spree. Plus in some ways his couch was more comfortable than his old bed.

"Batman told me about your file. That you killed a man, claiming Self-defence." Jim spoke in order to get to know the boy a bit better. He had seen many people kill someone and claim it as Self-defence, it was always a matter of determining the liars from the genuine.

"That's right… the asshole was going to throw me off a cliff. Didn't leave me much choice." Naruto answered bluntly as he settled into the opposite side of the couch, resting his head in an open palm.

"How'd it make you feel when you killed him?" Jim asked as he pulled a cleaning cloth from his vest pocket and began to clean his glasses as he listened for the boy's response.

"I dunno exactly. I felt… a lot of things. I was angry that he tried to kill me, I was shocked that I had actually killed someone. I was happy to be alive. But… I dunno… a part of me wishes that what happened could have gone differently. Maybe then I wouldn't have gone through a kangaroo court and got torn away from my home and the few friends I had. But another part of me isn't sorry. I did what I had to do in a bad situation with no time to think. And that guy… I trusted him enough to try and learn something from him, even if I didn't have that many options… and he tried to throw me away, like I was trash. Like I was disposable to him and… it still makes me feel so angry thinking about it." The blonde ranted, obviously showing he had a lot to get off his chest.

"Boy, I have seen all kinds of killers. A lot of them being sociopaths. But you? I can tell you've been to hell and back. You know what you did, and you're still trying to accept what happened. Those kinds of feelings and memories? It takes time to sort them out." Jim spoke somberly as he replaced his glasses.

"Does the pain ever really go away?" Naruto asked with a frown, he sensed someone staring into his back and turned to find Barbar had partially opened her door and had listened in on everything they had said.

"Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't. I think it largely depends on the person and how they cope. Either way, they find some way to deal with it and keep moving forward. If I've learned anything; Life's not about how hard of a hit you can give. It's about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward. Also, I wanted to apologize for how I acted. I shouldn't have snapped but, there's just some things a person can't shake off." She spoke as she wheeled herself forward, giving an apologetic look.

"Thanks. I actually wanted to say that I was sorry too. I didn't mean to upset you. Had I known, I wouldn't have opened my big mouth and stopped myself from sounding like a douchebag. Guess I spent too much time amongst criminals." He apologized sincerely, and then inwardly laughed at his own inside joke that he hadn't intended.

"I should apologize too. I should have warned our guest. I think I know just the thing to make this better… pizza. Pizza makes everything better." Jim spoke flashing a bright smile as he got up from the couch and picked up the phone. With both his daughter and guest happily agreeing that pizza sounded delicious.

Before Jim could punch in the phone number for the nearest pizza joint, there was a loud knocking on his door. "You aren't expecting anybody else, are you?" Naruto asked warily as he stared at the door before glancing over to Jim who slowly set the phone down. He still had his gun holster on him and pulled his pistol out. As he slowly approached the door and looked through the peephole and saw both Waller and an entire squad of her armed goons ready to burst through the door.

Jim bit his lip as he glanced over, knowing he couldn't risk endangering his daughter, but he also couldn't hand over the boy. Jim sighed deeply and mouthed 'run' to the whiskered teen, who immediately got the message as he nodded and Barbara whispered to him about a fire escape outside her father's bedroom prompting the boy to dash out as quickly and quietly as possible.

Holstering his pistol, Jim reluctantly opened the door and spoke "What do you want Waller?" At his question the woman herself glared at the Commissioner and gruffly answered "We're here for the kid. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Jim clenched his fist tightly into a white knuckle grip and spoke "He's not here. Now go away. I was about to order pizza." At his words, Waller scoffed and snapped her fingers, prompting her men to burst into Gordon's apartment and started to search for their target.

"This is wrong Waller. The kid told us everything. Don't think for a second you're gonna get off easy for this one. So help me God, I'll see you put behind bars for the remainder of your miserable life!" The Commissioner promised, only for one of the agents to slam the butt of his rifle into Gordon's stomach.

"Take them. We'll make them tell us where the slippery brat snuck off to." Amanda spoke as her men slapped the cuffs on the Gordons, with Jim being dragged out and Barbara being rolled out in her wheelchair.

Meanwhile, hidden away in a dirty alley, Naruto watched as the Gordons were placed in the back of an armored car and growled in anger. He had planned for Waller to show up to try and take him, the idea being to draw her out in the open, but he hadn't expected her to find him this quickly. It would seem he would need to adjust his plans a little. Now he had to help save the Gordons. They were nice to him, and opened their home to him, a complete stranger. He wasn't about to start abandoning his friends. Not for anything.

He performed a single hand-sign and adopted the Henge of Minato 'The Kingpin' and retreated deeper into the alley until he came to the opposite street. "TAXI!" He shouted as he waved down a familiar yellow car. Luckily, one quickly came to a stop in front of him, with the driver unlocking the doors with a click.

'Minato' almost leapt into the back as the Cab driver asked "Where to mister?" prompting the disguised blonde to answer "The Iceberg Lounge. I gotta call in the calvary."

 **Meanwhile. League of Assassins.**

The form of Ra's al Ghul could be seen sighing deeply as he meditated, trying to clear his mind after being revived by the Lazarus pits once again. The experience being highly taxing on one's mind. Even one as well-trained and strong willed as his own had difficulty keeping his sanity after repeated revivals after all.

However, he was not alone in his chambers. The form of Cheshire could be seen, balancing a throwing dagger on her fingertip. "You're absolutely certain of this?" He asked, breaking his meditation. His subordinate having reported a particular encounter with someone bearing the name 'Uzumaki'.

"I am. He didn't have the distinctive blood red hair, so he's likely of mixed heritage. But he definitely used Ninjutsu from the Elemental Nations. I believe it was the Shadow Clone technique." Cheshire answered with a grin.

The Demon's head gave a thin smile as he spoke "I know of that technique. It is an extremely taxing Jutsu that even their Kage's have difficulty mastering. If this boy is who you believe him to be… then Kushina's bloodline still lives. To think… the natural enemy of the gods still lived. How… exquisite. I would very much like to meet this boy."

"Might be complicated. Waller and her Agency are out to get him. They probably know he has the powers of a beast within him and want to use it to their advantage." Cheshire pointed out, only to earn a scoff from her master.

"A government dog? How quaint. All the more reason why we should get to him first. And if he truly bears the infamous Kyuubi… then that further proves he is Kushina's child. This will be a most interesting experience. The first I've looked forward to in a long time." Ra's spoke in an amused tone. He would be taking point on this outing, very much looking forward to meeting the child of a potential heir he had met some years ago.

If Naruto was half as crafty, resourceful and capable as his mother, then he himself might be a worthy heir to lead the League of Assassins.

 **End Chapter three.**

 **Bonus scene: I hate clowns.**

"Uhhh, Ivy? What'cha doing with that harpoon?" Asked the form of Harley Quinn as she watched the form of her long-time friend sharpening the tip of a harpoon before jamming it into a gun.

"Was thinking about picking up a new sport. Clown-spearing. I hate clowns, barring you. And I especially hate Joker." The plant user answered with a sneer as she aimed down the gun's sights, pointing it towards an enlarged picture of the Clown Prince of Crime himself, before firing it off. The Harpoon flew through the air and planted itself through the picture of the infamous Clown right through the chest.

"Were you killed by a clown pedophile in a past life or something?" Harley asked in a dead-pan tone since Ivy's hatred for Joker wasn't really anything new to her.

"You tell me. You're a shrink right? How can you figure out that I connect more with plants to avoid interacting with people, and you can't figure out that you're suffering from Stockholm syndrome potentially mixed with hybristophilia?" Ivy asked in a snarky tone, then paused when she noticed the stunned look on Harley's face.

"What? I read more than books about plants." Ivy muttered, you don't get to be a Super Criminal and survive in Gotham by being an idiot. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure why she was feeling angry at the Joker at this moment. It's not like Quinn had been singing his praises or talking about him that much since they'd left Arkham to work with their new boss. Maybe it had something to do with that freakish nightmare where Ivy was a giant woman fighting plant monsters and then getting harpooned herself. Now she wanted to give her 'Nightmare' Joker a taste of his own medicine.

"Now I feel like I need a shrink." Quinn muttered since she hadn't ever self-diagnosed, and upon hearing Ivy's words… she felt a strong urge to take a long look in the mirror.

"You did have one. Several in fact. You stabbed one in the knee with a ballpoint pen, bit off the ear of one. You kicked one in the groin so many times he had to get a gender change. And another guy you shoved the barrel of a shotgun up his ass, then fired a rubber bullet while it was still stuck inside.." Ivy pointed out, though to be fair, most, if not all of those guys tried to molest Harley or seduce her. It never ended well. Gotta say though, that last one was certainly a painful way to go.

Hopefully this Naruto kid would be able to keep Harley from focusing on her 'Mistah J' for a long time now.

 **End bonus scene.**

 **Next potential update:**

 **Empathy.**

 **The Throne Wars.**

 **Keys to the Kingdom.**

 **Family is Forever.**

 **Some plot bunny fic that I get the urge to write up. (Die you fucking plot bunnies!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello my readers. I decided to write this up as quickly as possible. Due to both the cliffhanger on the previous chapter, and I wanted to get this out before I started on my new job. It seems I'll have a busy schedule ahead, so I don't know when I will be able to update next.**

 **Thanks very much for your patience. Reviews and feedback are always welcome.**

 **Chapter four: Circles within Circles. Part two.**

In the back alleys of Gotham the sounds of combat boots could be heard echoing as a lone man carrying a large case could be seen. The man in question is known as Floyd Lawton, though he is most commonly referred to as 'Deadshot' one of the foremost Snipers and assassins in the world.

Just a short while ago, Killer Frost had unexpectedly called him, said something about working for a new boss calling himself 'The Kingpin'. Deadshot had never heard of this man before, but he didn't really care. Frost explained that a job was available that required his expertise… and the target was none other than the fat lady herself. Amanda fucking Waller.

Floyd couldn't remember the number of times that he'd be abducted, slapped with an explosive device and dispatched to do Waller's dirty work just to avoid being blasted to pieces. He wasn't in it for the money this time, this one was personal for him. He was very much looking forward to creating a great big smoking hole right between Waller's eyes.

The sniper smirked as he saw the back entrance of the Iceberg lounge, a pretty frequent entryway for any con, thug, or hired assassin looking for work. The Penguin had a large number of black market dealings and connections. If you were looking for work, or the right equipment for the job, this was the place to go. Not to mention it was a good meeting spot for jobs since none of the Penguin's employees ever asked questions.

He passed through the doors and walked down a long hallway till he came upon an elevator and entered inside. He pushed a button to take him down to the basement, which was often the usual meeting spot for accepting jobs. After a few seconds the doors closed and he began his descent. As he waited he thought back to his brief conversation with Frost over the phone, from the sounds of it, this Kingpin seemed to be quickly establishing connections with some big names here in Gotham. He even had the likes of Catwoman, Ivy, and Harley Quinn in his pocket.

Catwoman and Ivy were typically loners who always sought out their own agendas. And Harley was almost attached to the Joker's hip at all times, almost like a lovesick puppy constantly craving attention or treats. Poor girl. But now this Kingpin guy had them all working for him in an extremely short amount of time. If he had to guess, the Kingpin must have been unnaturally charismatic and/or persuasive. Guys like that could be extremely dangerous… because you may end up dancing to whatever tune he wants without realizing why you're doing it.

The elevator doors opened revealing the forms of a blonde man conversing with Killer Frost, the latter having a chilling smile on her face… no pun intended. And off to the side was some blonde kid with whisker like markings sitting on a crate. Both Frost and the man she was speaking to turned towards the Sniper as he approached them.

"Deadshot, right? I'm the Kingpin. Nice to meet you, I appreciate you coming on such short notice." The Kingpin politely greeted as he extended a hand towards the sniper. Deadshot smirked a little, this guy seemed to be the professional type. That was fine with him. He found those 'Superior than you cuz I'm the boss' types to be rather annoying. The Assassin shook his potential employers hand and then placed the case he was carrying on the floor. He pushed a button on the side causing it to pop open revealing the parts and pieces to one of his personal sniper rifles.

"No problem. No way in hell I'm going to miss taking a shot at Waller… pun intended." Deadshot spoke with a small chuckle as he began to assemble his rifle. His little joke earning a few laughs from Frost and Kingpin.

"Right, unfortunately the plan's changed a bit. Waller's on the warpath, just recently she kidnapped both Commissioner Jim Gordon and his daughter Barbara." The Kingpin explained, causing the marksman to nearly drop his equipment to the floor.

"You serious? Damn. Waller must be finally going off the deep end. No way in hell the police or Batman are going to be ignoring that. The hell is the fatass hoping to accomplish?" Deadshot asked, his question causing Killer Frost to point towards the boy that was quietly keeping to himself for the moment.

"The kid? Waller's going after kids now?" Floyd spoke as his eyes narrowed, he wouldn't ever reveal this… but he actually had a certain fondness for kids. He supposed that came naturally from being a father. Or maybe despite being a gun-for-hire with a death wish, even he had a problem with people who messed around with kids.

"That's Naruto. I met him in Arkham. Poor kid has been hunted down by Waller ever since he arrived. She wants to turn him into some kind of superweapon or something. He was with the Gordon's but managed to give Waller the slip." The ice user explained, giving the marksman the rundown of the situation.

"Way I see it. Waller will be bad for business. For all of us. We need to get to her before the Batman does. If he puts her under arrest, she'll get a slap on the wrist and walk out in no time flat. That's where you come in." The Kingpin explained before gesturing to a set of tactical armor and equipment worn by a member of a SWAT team.

Deadshot smirked a bit, already guessing the plan. He would plant himself amongst the GCPD and hunt down Waller, once she was in his crosshairs he'd take the shot and put that damned whale out of everyone's misery. "I get the picture. What about the kid?" The marksman asked, gesturing to the boy. With a smirk, the Kingpin picked up a telephone and gestured for the boy to approach.

The whiskered teen nodded as he jogged up to them as the elder blonde put the phone on loudspeaker and made a 'shush' gesture to both Frost and Lawton. After a few seconds, the line picked up and a masculine voice could be heard speaking "Yello, Detective Harvey Bullock."

The whiskered teen took a deep breath and shouted "Bullock! It's Naruto! Waller took the Gordon's!" at the sound of his voice, one could almost hear Bullock falling out of his seat on the other end.

"Whoa! Slow down kid! What the heck happened?" Bullock asked, while he got the gist of it, he had to be certain he heard the boy correctly.

"I was at the Gordon's apartment, Waller and her goon squad showed up and kidnapped Jim and Barbara. Jim stalled them so I could get away!" Naruto explained with a small yell. In the background Deadshot had to suppress an impressed whistle, this kid seemed all calm before but now he seemed to be playing the part of a scared little kid… tremendously well. Just how much of it was an act, or was it legit?

After a few seconds Harvey spoke back "I hear ya kid. I'll get the GCPD on this straightaway. Where are ya anyway? I'll send a car for ya."

"I dunno. I… I see a building. Called the Iceberg Lounge?" The blonde replied, feigning hesitance and uncertainty. But damn was he doing a good job of it.

"I gotcha. I'm gonna send someone I trust to get ya. We'll get the Gordon's back. Take care and don't talk to any suspicious characters." Harvey spoke in a warning tone at the end, and then hanged up the phone on his end.

"You heard him boy. He's sending a car for you. Better go outside and meet with them." the new crime lord suggested, earning a nod from the whiskered teen who darted off towards the elevator.

"Just how much of that little act was for real?" The marksman asked out of curiosity since that question had been clawing at his mind for the past two minutes. Whoever that boy was, he certainly had a talent.

"I'll leave that to your imagination Deadshot. Not to tell you how to do your job, but you'd best suit up and get ready. We only have a limited window of opportunity before Waller is either arrested or escapes, in either case she may end up out of our reach." The blonde man suggested, prompting the sniper to silently agree and give a two-fingered salute as he picked up the GCPD Swat gear and went towards the elevator to head back topside himself.

Once the marksman was out of sight, the form of the Kingpin smirked before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Killer Frost grinned at the display and muttered to herself "The boss is just a bag full of tricks."

 **Later. GCPD rooftop.**

Harvey Bullock sipped at a mug full of warm coffee. His face now a hard mask, though his eyes burned with anger and frustration. He stared up at the sky towards the illuminated symbol of the Bat-signal as he awaited for the caped Crusader himself. While he was reluctant to call on the Batman for help, Bullock couldn't deny that the bat was most likely the fastest bet to locate the Gordon's in time.

He had already scrambled the entire GCPD and put out a BOLO for Amanda Waller. Now he just needed to get the bat on board, and everything would be aces. "Detective Bullock." Called out the familiar voice of the Dark Knight, the sudden appearance almost making the detective drop his coffee. But he managed to keep it from spilling as he turned towards the Batman.

"Thanks for coming. I just got a call from that Naruto kid. Waller's gone completely bonkers. She's kidnapped Jim and Barbara for hiding him. Way I figure it, she's gonna turn all of Gotham upside-down to find him. We gotta shut her down, pronto." Bullock spoke, quickly surmising the situation to the Batman.

After a few moments of silence the Batman nodded and replied "Understood. I'll find Waller and the Gordon's as quickly as possible. What is Naruto's current status?"

"I sent Montoya to scoop him up. He'll be fine, you just focus on finding Jim and Barbara, kay?" Harvey answered causing the caped Crusader to vanish as soon as the detective blinked his eyes. For the life of him, he couldn't ever figure out how the Batman could vanish and appear like a ghost. But it wasn't that important right now. What mattered, was saving Jim and Barbara, and putting Waller exactly where she belonged.

 **Meanwhile.**

"Barbara? You okay?" Jim asked his daughter in a concerned voice, his hands cuffed to some pipeworks. If he were truthful, these were actually his own handcuffs that Waller's agents used. And it was a secret embarrassment amongst police when their own cuffs are used against them, and to make it worse, they took the key with them.

Barbara was off to the side sitting in her wheelchair with no obvious restraints. Apparently she wasn't viewed as a threat or could escape due to her status as a paraplegic… supposedly. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'm more worried about you. They were pretty rough with you dad." Barbara responded in an equally concerned tone, her father could only laugh a bit.

"Please. Those Suits hit like school kids. They couldn't hurt me if they tried. From the sounds of Waller chewing out her men, it seems like the boy got away. That's good. He's probably called the GCPD and they have already contacted Batman." Gordon spoke confidently since he had seen the Bat-signal illuminating the sky. It was only a matter of time before the Dark Knight himself appeared to rescue them in the nick of time.

"Yeah. We'll be fine. Is it just me… or is Waller really obsessed with finding Naruto for some reason? It makes almost no sense for her to kidnap us like this!" The red haired girl half-shouted and slammed her fist into her armrest angrily. Before their conversation could continue, the sounds of heels clicking against the floor could be heard as a woman approached them… and it wasn't Waller.

"You're not wrong Mrs. Gordon. Director Waller has been chomping at the bit to find that poor boy. And his repeated escapes have been driving her crazy." The woman spoke as she came into the light, holding a tablet in her hand. She then ran a hand through her brown locks and said "I am Agent Iman Avesta… I can't tell you how sorry I am for this."

Jim narrowed his eyes a bit as he sized up this woman, she seemed nice enough, though she wasn't beyond suspicion since she was still one of Waller's people. "Thanks for the sympathy, if nothing else." Jim replied, his voice still rather bitter as he rattled his cuffs a bit for some emphasis, causing Iman to adopt an apologetic look on her face.

"Understood, but listen carefully. There's something going on that you aren't aware of. A few months ago, Waller was contacted by a strange old man. Said that he could offer us a Weapon of Mass Destruction in exchange for technology and state-of-the-art weaponry. In Naruto's home country, he was found guilty and then transferred here to Gotham.

Waller was planning to take custody of him directly from Arkham, but the unexpected interference of Killer Frost, Catwoman and Cheshire gave him the chance he needed to escape Arkham. After that, we lost track of him until a surveillance unit tracked him to your own apartment." Avesta explained, her words filling in some of the blanks as to how Waller knew about the boy's abilities and gifts beforehand.

"And you're telling us about this? Why?" Barbara asked skeptically, wondering why this Cadmus agent was telling them. A change of heart maybe? This Avesta woman didn't seem to be some 'yes-man-drone' like the numerous other agents in Waller's employ.

"When I was recruited into Cadmus, I was hoping to do some good. Fight the good fight. Handle delicate situations that no one else could. I had certain scruples about using criminals for suicide missions, but I didn't say anything. What crossed the line for me, was chasing after a kid and arresting innocent people for no reason. And that's not all, Waller has been doing all manner of things that are less-than-legal, all with the intent to undermine the JLA." Avesta answered, her words causing both Barbara and Jim's eyes to widen a bit. Just what in the hell was Waller doing behind the scenes? They were almost scared to know.

Barbara pursed her lips and spoke "Listen. If you really want to help, you need to call the GCPD and tell them where we are. Right now."

At that, Jim nodded and spoke up "She's right. If you help us, we can help get you off the hook. Get you into protective custody or something. Please. Waller can't be allowed to continue with… whatever in the hell she's doing." At that, Avesta nodded as she pulled out a cellphone.

"Waller wiretaps and monitors all Agency issued phones. Fortunately, I like my privacy and bought my own personal one. Who do I contact at the GCPD?" Avesta asked as she prepared a text, giving the address they were located in. The Commissioner told her to contact Bullock and gave her the needed phone number. Bullock was known to be a rather belligerent cop, but he was still a loyal one and someone Gordon trusted.

Once Agent Avesta typed in the appropriate phone number, she sent the text with the push of a button. Now it was all a matter of time before the police arrived. Avesta smirked a little bit since she was now a regular Judas, but at least she had good intentions with this act of insubordination. It would soon be time to nail Waller and crucify her for all the world to see.

 **Some time later.**

Sirens could be heard echoing across the street, blaring loudly as they surrounded a rather small nondescript office building of some kind that was near the docks. Police boats bobbed lightly in the water, cutting off any escape by boat. Helicopters hovered in the air, shining spotlights on the building while preventing escape by air.

And finally, the entirety of the GCPD was now setting up barricades and keeping their guns trained on the building itself, most particularly the windows and doors. Many of the cops were just waiting for Waller and her people to give some kind of excuse to use deadly force. Commissioner Gordon was a well-trusted officer and one of the best leaders they could ever ask for, and his daughter Barbara was a kind and well-spoken girl that almost every officer had met at some point or other… and they were all mad as hell at the Agency for kidnapping the Gordon's.

"All right Waller! The jig is up! We got ya surrounded. Come on out all peacefully and we won't pump your fat guts full o' lead! Otherwise? We'll be more than happy to stuff you in a plus-sized coffin." Bullock spoke into a megaphone, calling out the beached whale herself. He doubted that the fat lady would surrender, but at least now it couldn't be said the GCPD didn't give her a chance at surrender.

The seconds slowly ticked by into minutes and so far, they hadn't received any word from anyone inside the building. He knew it was the right place from the text he had received from an anonymous source. At first he was reluctant to follow directions from an unknown source, but it was the best lead they had. And it seems his instincts were right since he could see armed men in the windows, and judging by the monkey suits they wore, they were definitely government issued jarheads.

Bullock's concentration and musing was broken when another squad car rolled up with Officer Montoya inside, along with the kid. Harvey narrowed his eyes since Montoya was supposed to take that Naruto kid to the GCPD, but he wasn't going to argue. He needed every last cop on the scene, and the kid might be able to help draw out Waller if he was willing.

Renee stepped out of the car with Naruto following after her, she drew her gun and crouched behind her car for cover as she aimed her pistol at the building. "Bullock! We came as soon as we heard over the radio! What's the situation?" She shouted towards her partner.

"We got the place covered top to bottom. SWAT teams, boats, choppers. The whole nine yards. Snipers are getting set up right now, waiting to take shots if Waller's punks start shooting. Batman either hasn't shown up, or he's casing the joint from somewhere looking for his big chance. We haven't heard from the fat lady yet either. Doesn't seem she's much for talking." Bullock reported with a sneer, if he knew anything about his job, it's that when people are backed into a corner are dangerous. Especially if they have no moral compass. The longer this standoff takes, the more at-risk the Gordon's may be.

"Oi! Bullock! Put me out front! Give me a chance to draw Waller out. I'm the one she's looking for." Naruto shouted, offering to put himself on a platter if it could be of any help. He smirked inwardly since it was easy enough to convince Montoya to bring him here, arguing that they would be of better help that way instead of sitting in the almost abandoned GCPD since the entire police force had been dispatched. Whether it was his own pheromones or Montoya's sense of justice, or both, she almost immediately agreed.

"You sure kid? If this whole thing goes effin' sideways, I can't make any solid promises for your safety." Bullock warned the boy, though if he were honest, he didn't have that many plays. Sending the cops charging in would be a bloodbath, and he wasn't sure how long the Batman would take to make his move, assuming he was around, which Bullock believed he was since the bat almost always showed up at the right time.

"Don't worry about me. I'm more valuable to Waller alive, that aside… I can regen. I'll be okay. You tell your sniper guys to be ready. As soon as Waller comes into view, take the shot. Cuz I don't think Waller's gonna be the negotiating type." The whiskered teen cautioned the detective, making him nod in understanding as he began to relay orders to the snipers to be ready for anything.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto marched up towards the building, a spotlight shining on his back as he approached. Clenching his fists the Jinchuuriki shouted out as loud as he could "WALLER! GET YOUR FAT ASS OUT HERE!" He could see movement in the windows as he waited for some kind of response.

He didn't have to wait long as a set of loudspeakers crackled to life and he noticed that the security cameras started to focus on him, and then he heard the familiar voice of Waller speak through the speakers "Finally decided to stop running? Good. I was getting tired of chasing you."

"What can I say? The idea of being someone's attack dog doesn't appeal to me. I'm done running now. And I sure as shit am not going to be a weapon for you. It's all over Waller. Get out here and these cops won't have to plant you in the ground." Naruto warned her and looked over his shoulder at the nearby rooftops, spotting the various snipers that were in position… one in particular giving him a quick two-fingered salute that he almost missed.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'm called 'The Wall' for a reason, you little brat." Waller responded angrily, her tone making the blonde boy believe that if he could see her, she'd be sprouting a large tic-mark on her forehead.

"The Wall huh? If you aren't called that because of your stubborn-as-hell personality, I can certainly think of another reason." Naruto spoke mockingly, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of the fat whale. Speaking of which, this standoff somewhat reminded him about a book he read, about a certain captain that was obsessed with a certain whale. This obsession ultimately led to his death as the hunter ended up the hunted. And it seemed like Waller would be met with her end in due time.

After a few seconds of silence, Waller's voice boomed out once more "I'm not here to banter, barter, or exchange petty insults. Here's how this is going to work. You're going to step inside and my men are going to put you in my custody. If you continue with this charade, then the Gordon's will have to suffer."

"That's not how this works. The cops have you surrounded and they're angry enough as it is. You're up shit creek without a paddle Waller. You gotta know that much… or maybe you don't even want to acknowledge when you're beaten." Naruto muttered the last part, finding it strange that Waller didn't seem to be operating with any real logic or reasoning at this point. That woman didn't seem mentally sound at the moment.

Before Waller could respond through the loudspeakers, the sounds of gunfire could be heard followed by sounds of panicked shouting. Naruto smirked since he guessed that the famous Batman had finally made his move. Biting his lip, the boy charged forward and slammed his shoulder into the front doors, nearly taking them off their hinges as he ran inside. He could hear Bullock shouting for the police to move in behind him as he ran through the halls.

He saw a sign that showed the direction of the stairs making him plant his feet to the ground, skidding across the tiled floor as he quickly changed directions. Near the staircase was a set of men wearing tactical armor who lifted up their assault rifles with one of them shouting "Target sighted! Fire away! He can regen!"

The soldiers pulled the triggers causing their weapons to start firing bullets in the blonde's direction. Naruto ran forward faster and then screamed in pain as he felt the bullets pierce through him, he felt three hitting him in the stomach. One in the chest, and another pierce through his neck. He growled as he tried to fight through the pain and continued forward. The soldiers kept firing in the boy's direction until their respective magazines ran empty.

They tried to reload, but it was too late since the blonde was already on them. He hopped up and slammed his foot down on one man's kneecap, causing the joint to pop out of place with a sickening snap, making him fall to the floor screaming. The other tried using the butt of his rifle to strike Naruto on the head, but he ducked under the swing and sent his fist into the soldier's groin.

The trooper doubled over in a silent scream and then the blonde whipped his leg around like a scythe, knocking the man's legs out from under him. The blonde then rolled forward and used his momentum to slam his elbow into the soldier's throat. The soldier clutched at his throat, rolling from side to side as he made choking noises as he tried to wheeze and gasp for air.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?" Shouted a random officer as Naruto hopped back to his feet and began running up the stairs with all haste, he could hear the collective footfalls of the officer's not far behind him as he made his way up to the next floor where another armored soldier was waiting. He aimed his weapon towards the boy and fired, Naruto felt himself propelled off his feet by the force of the shotgun blast. Naruto did a backflip in the air and planted his feet on the wall, and launched himself forward as he leapt guard. This time, the man was caught off guard by the boy's swift recovery as Naruto's form collided with him, sending them both to the floor.

"Where's Waller?!" Naruto shouted as he tore the man's shotgun away and chucked it down the stairs before slamming his forehead down into the man's face. His forehead hitting the soldier on the bridge of his nose, causing the bone and cartilage to snap. "Where. is. WALLER?!" Naruto demanded again headbutting the soldier with each word. The blonde took notice that the trooper was pointing at the door and then motioned left. Satisfied, Naruto released him and left him on the floor to clutch at his broken nose as the police stormed up.

Naruto opened the door at the top of the staircase and turned left, finding only a single door at the end of a short hallway. Growling, Naruto kicked the door as hard as possible, causing the center to splinter and then snap in half under the force of his kick. Inside was some kind of security room with small tv screens that were now showing nothing but static. Apparently the camera feeds were killed sometime in the raid, likely when Batman made his move. And sitting behind a desk was Waller herself. The blonde smirked victoriously and spoke "It's all over Waller. Police are storming the place. And you don't have any cards left to play."

The Director of Cadmus narrowed her eyes as she stared at the boy, her eyes flickering with hate. "That old man was right. You are indeed more trouble than you're worth." She snarled out through gritted teeth.

"What old man? Who was it that told you about me?! Who told you about me being a Jinchuuriki? Someone had to have told you." Naruto questioned, there was no possible way Waller could have known about at least some of his abilities unless someone had told her.

"An old warhawk that sold you to me for some more modern gear and tech. No idea how he managed to find and reach out to me. He warned me you were a wildcard. But I never expected you to be this much trouble." She answered bitterly, the words 'warhawk' striking a chord in the boy's memory. He remembered the Sandaime frequently describing a certain man with that exact nickname… who was it again? Danzo. Danzo Shimura. That was the name.

"If I had my way, I'd be beating you senseless. But you'll get your comeuppance soon. I promise you." After he'd made that promise, some police officers came up behind him pointing their weapons at the whale with Harvey Bullock also appearing, pointing his revolver at Waller.

"They say it ain't over till the fat lady sings. And trust me… you're gonna sing like your life depends on it." He promised as he held up a pair of handcuffs.

"You guys find Jim and Barbara?" Naruto asked, hoping that they were okay. He was relieved when Harvey nodded his head and answered the boy "Ya don't have to worry. They're a-okay. The Batman already got them loose and we're escorting them outside. Now we're gonna be sending the fat lady up the river."

"Good. I hope Waller gets her just desserts." Naruto grumbled, trying his best to hide a smirk… especially since he knew what was going to come next.

 **Meanwhile.**

On a nearby rooftop, Deadshot watched the happenings going on around the building. Keeping a careful watch for the moment Waller showed herself. Of course she would pick a room where there weren't any windows. Now he wished that he'd packed his thermal imaging scope. But sooner or later, she would either be gunned down by police, or dragged out in cuffs. The latter was what he was betting on. Because then he'd be able to pull the trigger himself.

It was pretty easy infiltrating this operation. He inserted himself amongst the police back in the GCPD, none of them noticing an extra SWAT member, of course the facemask helped hide his identity. And then the cops got a tip on Waller's location. Now here he was, just waiting for his moment. As soon as he pulled the trigger, he would need to drop everything and run, because it would be at that point the Batman would be hot on his heels.

He took notice that the cops were escorting out people from the Agency in handcuffs, some of them sporting broken bones and the like, most probably the Batman's handiwork. He saw the Commissioner being escorted out as well, pushing a girl in a wheelchair that could only be his daughter. He then saw that whiskered kid from earlier step outside with a strange little smile on his face.

And at long last, he saw his target. Waller herself. Deadshot lined up the scope to her head, keeping trained so the bullet will pierce through her head. He slowly squeezed the trigger down… and then it happened. The bullet fired off with a loud 'bang' and the back of Waller's head exploded with blood and bone. With his job finished, the marksman leapt to his feet and took off running knowing he didn't have much time to get a head-start. But before he could jump to the next roof, the Batman had already appeared on the other side.

"Damn you're quick. That's okay though. My job here is done." Floyd spoke in a satisfied tone, he had already killed Waller. And now the Batman had arrived to apprehend him. He could try taking a shot at the Caped crusader, but he was in too good a mood for that song and dance, and he didn't want to spoil it all with cracked ribs and the like. "You know what? Fuck it. You got me. It was worth it." The sniper muttered and then held his hands out to let the Batman cuff him. He wasn't going to ruin this night with a fist fight with the bat. Especially since it almost always ended with broken bones.

"Who hired you to kill Waller?" The Batman asked, cautiously approaching until he removed Deadshot's trademark wrist-mounted weaponry and then put the cuffs on him with a small click.

"Wrong question. Who wouldn't hire me to kill the fat lady? She's not exactly Ms. Popular. Who knows? Maybe I did it just because. This could have been personal for me." Deadshot answered with a dismissive tone. Batman stared at him with a hard glare, unbeknownst to the marksman, the bat was scanning his biometric readings, and from his heart rate the Batman could see he was being truthful, at least in some regard.

"You're going to be put away for this Deadshot." The Batman spoke in a blunt manner, earning a small scoff from the assassin.

"Yeah. But for how long really?" Floyd joke since it became something of a running gag amongst the Super-criminal community… how long would it be before they escaped again and continued their escapades? Well, to be honest, Floyd wasn't a stranger to prisons. It was actually like a small vacation for some people like himself. Three square meals a day, free room and board, and the low-tier crooks were smart enough to give him a wide berth. He actually wouldn't mind a little down-time, especially now that Waller was food for the worms.

Meanwhile, back amongst the mass of police and squad cars, Naruto stood to the side with the Gordon's as the remains of Waller was taken away on a gurney. At least the COD was obvious given the gaping hole in her head. "Glad to see you guys are okay. How'd you send a message out to the cops?" Naruto asked out of curiosity since he knew that the fat lady would have had any communication devices confiscated.

"We had some help from an Agent Iman Avesta. My men will be taking her into protective custody for questioning. Given her help and readiness to cooperate, Avesta's going to be free in no time. She seems like a good woman." Jim answered as he waved towards a brown haired woman who waved back as she was ushered into a squad car.

"Naruto… Avesta told us about…" Barbara tried to speak but was cut off by the whiskered teen who said "I know. Someone from my old home traded me for weapons and tech. Waller already told me before she was killed. This means that there's more at work here than just the Whale and her goons."

Both of the Gordon's exchanged looks before nodding to each other, with Jim speaking "Yeah. That about sums it up. Listen, I know you've had a hard time, and it is likely that it'll only get worse from here. I promise you though, we'll do our absolute best to keep you safe."

The blonde hmmed to himself as he adopted a thinking pose, considering the Commissioners words. Finally the boy answered "I appreciate the offer… but it seems like being around me could put you and Barbara in danger. This is my problem, from my old home. I'll handle it myself… but I promise to keep in touch if I need a hand."

At his words, Barbara had a saddened look on her face since she knew the Batman himself often tried to go it alone, almost always pushing himself to the limit to go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure those around him didn't suffer. Even if he himself suffered. "Where will you go Naruto? What will you do?" She asked him in a worried tone.

"With luck, I'll be going forward. And I'll try to find a place I can belong in this unforgiving world we live in. Sayonara, I look forward to seeing you all again." Naruto answered as he gave a small two-fingered salute to make his swift exit, only to be stopped when the Commissioner clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"That's crazy talk son. I can't let you strike out on your own like this." Jim spoke in a concerned tone, not liking the boy's current mindset or intentions of taking his chances all on his own.

"Like I said, I'll be in touch. And whoever said anything about 'letting' me?" The boy asked with a chuckle. He snapped his fingers and his form was instantly replaced by a trash can, making both Barbara and Jim wonder how he did that. Jim knew he had to put out a BOLO for the kid now. Gotham was a dangerous place after all, especially for unsupervised kids. Barbara however had a gut feeling that Naruto would be okay. She had no idea why exactly… but it's like she could almost feel how confident and self-assured he was. Almost like he knew what he was doing.

Nevertheless, she would keep a close eye out for him over the Bat-Family's vast information network. If Naruto ever showed up on her scans… she would know about it and be able to monitor his safety. Now she just needed to inform Bruce of what Agent Avesta had revealed previously, although now she couldn't help but wonder… What else was Waller and Cadmus up to? What kind of activities could they have been doing in the shadows to unnerve Avesta? Truthfully, Barbara was a little scared to find out.

Because power without moral restraint was the most dangerous kind… and could often yield highly unpredictable results.

 **With Naruto.**

"Danzo Shimura. I had heard of your ambition, but I never thought you'd be so foolish as to trade a Jinchuuriki so carelessly. What was your plan old timer? Maybe you were planning to sell me and then steal me back?" The Jinchuuriki muttered to himself in thought, now adopting his 'Minato' guise to avoid suspicions and the police.

Truth be told, he wasn't sure why he picked the Yondaime's form for his Kingpin persona. Maybe it was because he still looked up to the Yondaime, maybe because his appearance was easy to remember since it was naturally similar to his own. Maybe it was a combination of the two, regardless it still did the job of throwing people off who weren't aware of his true nature.

On a more important note, he was a rogue Jinchuuriki now. And it would only be a matter of time before those from other Nations found out he was now fair game. Sure, Konoha would try to keep it a secret, but someone would talk, or find out the truth. And then he would be sought out for his power. Naruto grit his teeth slightly in annoyance.

There was a time when he was prepared to lay down his life for the village, to do whatever it took to show the people there he wasn't the Kyuubi itself. He was once prepared to do anything for those he cared about, and he still was. But he was finished being a victim. He was finished being persecuted because of what and who he was. No. He now had a chance to call the shots. To truly prove himself.

Here in Gotham, he has accomplished more inside of a few days than he had in his entire life in Konoha. Gotham was a clean slate for him. A Chance to make something of himself, in both the lower and higher tiers of the city. He wasn't the Dead-last here in Gotham… he was the Kingpin. A crime lord that was swiftly on the rise. Rupert Thorne would soon be dead in but a few hours, and then his gang and criminal enterprise would be all for Naruto to claim for himself.

His musing was broken when thunder began to rumble in the sky and rain started to pour down as well, some droplets hitting his face… until an umbrella opened and the blonde found a girl standing next to him. He looked over his shoulder and found that it was actually his mysterious limo driver. A young woman with pink and chocolate brown hair with two different colored eyes, one pink and one brown. She was known as Neopolitan… and that was pretty much all that was known of her since she wasn't the talkative type. Though for some unknown reason, Naruto could perfectly understand her.

"Neo? How the hell did you find me?" The Kingpin asked since he was wondering how he'd get transportation. He was about to try and flag down a taxi, though that didn't seem necessary with Neo here.

"..." She answered with a small smile, tipping her bowler hat slightly in respect to her boss.

"Wow. Really? You're incredibly dedicated to your job, aren't you? I certainly wouldn't want to get on your bad side." He responded, already guessing that Neo was a pro since she had successfully followed him without any difficulty. He guessed that she probably tracked him from the second he had left the Iceberg Lounge in Officer Montoya's car. "How much did you hear while I was thinking out loud?" He asked her, making a mental note to avoid thinking aloud in the future.

"..." She responded, then gave a reassuring smile while tipping her hat to him.

"Thanks for your discretion. I dunno why… but you seem like the loyal type. Since you were already listening, and you claim to be a good listener. I'll be needing to prepare myself for the eventuality of other unsavory characters coming to hunt me down now." He responded as he clasped his hands behind his head with a sigh.

Neo tapped her chin in thought, then had a 'ah-ha' moment as she snapped her fingers and pointed in a certain direction. "..!" she exclaimed and then pulled out a newspaper from seemingly thin air which she presented to her boss. Naruto skimmed over the contents and saw an article, about Metropolis' Stryker's island penitentiary, home to numerous Super-criminals from Superman's Rogues gallery including Livewire, Silver Banshee, and other criminals of renown in Metropolis.

"That's pretty interesting… I might have to look into that later once my affairs in Gotham are in order. Thanks Neo… you seem to be pretty reliable." The Kingpin happily remarked causing his newest associate to nod in satisfaction and then gestured towards the waiting limousine. She popped open the door for him, allowing him entry. Once he was inside, she shut the door and made her way to the driver's seat and awaited his instructions.

"I have nowhere else to be for the evening. I don't think I've had much time for myself since my arrival in Gotham. And with Waller gone… maybe I can have a moment's peace. If it's all the same… could you just drive around and show me the sights Neo?" The blonde requested with a tired smile, finally feeling like he could just sit down and have a moment to himself. Neo nodded and started the engine for the limo, to begin the grand tour of Gotham for her new boss.

Neo smirked a little to herself. She had never expected to have a boss that could understand her, even when no words were spoken. She had worked for some time now as a freelancer, doing odd jobs, serving as a bodyguard, a spy, and an assassin. She had even once gotten an invitation from the League of Assassins due to her talents… but for some reason she could feel there was something truly special about the Kingpin… now she knew for certain there was beyond all doubt. It would be interesting to see what he would do in the criminal underworld.

 **Later. Arkham Asylum.**

"Please! Don't do this! I'll do anything you ask!" Screamed the form of Quincy Sharp as he was being dangled from the rooftop of the administration building. His eyes almost bulging and his face turning a little green as he could only look at the ground.

"You ever see what happens to a human head when it smashes against the ground? It kinda reminds me of what happens when a watermelon explodes." Teased a female voice as she tightened her grip on Sharp's legs and started to sway him from side to side, her words making him make some gagging noises at the mental image.

"You disappoint me Sharp. I shall ask you, once more. Where. is. the. boy?" Asked the form of Ra's al Ghul with a sneer. His agent Hugo Strange having spent many months working on and manipulating this pathetic little man's mind from the shadows… and yet Sharp was so inept that he couldn't even keep track of a simple child, let alone run a proper prison.

"I already told you! Waller came to collect the boy! But he escaped with some help from the inmates! I had to get rid of him before he exposed me for what I did in the Asylum! The last I heard, he was in police custody but now he's gone again!" Quincy tried to explain himself, trying to say anything if it meant appeasing the Demon's head. This however had the opposite effect.

"Exposed you? So then… you mean to say you're already compromised? Hmph. As expected of a disposable pawn… you have lost all value to the League then." Ra's muttered angrily and then sent a subtle nod to Cheshire. Getting the message loud and clear, the black haired assassin quickly released the Warden from her grip, sending him plummeting to the ground where a sickening thud could be heard.

"I was there when Waller showed up. I helped fight off her people to give Naruto a chance to escape. He most likely employed the Water-walking technique to run across the bay to safety. If he knows the Henge technique, he could easily hide himself in Gotham with ease." Cheshire spoke, clicking her tongue in annoyance since they had arrived too late.

"Indeed. Though he has to come up for air at some point or another. And when he does, we shall find him. After all, we are the League of Assassins for a specific reason. It's not a matter of 'if' we find our intended target… but 'when'. I shall be dispatching the entire League to find him. The first person to find this boy and bring him to me shall be handsomely rewarded… any who do him harm I shall personally execute." Ra's spoke as he turned around and was met by a legion of Assassins who all bowed in acknowledgment to his orders.

Amongst their numbers was Talia who was reading a local newspaper for any relevant information about Naruto's last known whereabouts and activities on the second page. And on the front page was an article titled 'Thorne dead! Unknown Crime Boss 'Kingpin' suspected.'

 **End chapter four.**

 **Next potential update:**

 **The Throne Wars.**

 **Keys to the Kingdom.**

 **Empathy.**

 **Family is Forever.**


End file.
